Remember, remember, that time that you met me
by BritainChwan
Summary: There had been rumours going around for a while now; that there was going to be a new student arriving at Sunny Academy. However, nobody believed it until Mr Franky announced in assembly that it was true... When I saw that golden hair, shiny blue eye and twirly right eyebrow I realised that I actually was… quite interested… Warning: Yaoi (boy x boy)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 :Greetings

When they announced there was a new student coming to Sunny academy, the whole school was buzzing with excitement and anticipation. To be honest, we never get new students… ever. For all the years I've been here we've never once had a new student and I've heard that it's even longer than that. So even though they were just going to be in one class, this newbie would be the centre of attention of the whole school. Like the sun and the planets; everyone's conversations and interests will revolve around them for quite some time. Well not mine of course. I don't really care about any new kid. My name is Roronoa Zoro. I'm head of the Sunny kendo[1] team and I plan on winning the championships to become the world's best. Swords are my sun and I am its earth.

There had been rumours going around for a while now; that there was going to be a new student arriving at Sunny Academy. However, nobody believed it until Mr Franky announced in assembly that it was true. So now, when I hear girls gossiping over it I just roll my eyes. It's _boring_ to me already. Though, that's to be expected since I don't take an interest in the latest 'news' or 'goings on' with this school anyway. The only reason I go here, the same reason I've started here, is because this school has the best kendo team out of the schools I could apply to. However, no matter how hard I try, I can never seem to escape the gossip and usually end up 'in the know' weather I like it or not.

We were told a little about this transfer student in home room. I'm always hit when I try to sleep during lessons so I'm forced to listen and learn about whatever Mr Whitebeard is talking about. And of course, today our morning was opened up with an introduction for the new student who was arriving tomorrow. We learned that it's a guy and that he's the adopted son of a famous chef so, of course, that got the girls gossiping and fawning over their predictions on what he will look like; typical. Why do they care so much about what he's like? I mean, since I was forced into thinking about it I bet he's just another stuck up jerk who thinks he's so amazing and better than everyone just because of his connections. Tsk, whatever.

After five agonizing hours of dribble we're finally released and I'm able to seek solace in the school dojo[2]. I'm the only one in the team who trains in here after school every day, the rest of the team trains with me on Mondays, Wednesdays and _Sometimes_ Fridays. I come here whenever I feel like it and train separately. The dojo is quiet and I'm able to relax and let go here. I live in a dojo anyway but it always has lessons going on and it's usually kids. So I can't get any training done and I'd interrupt if I tried to train at the back or something. So I worked it out with my sensei[3] to let me train here for two hours after school every day. He's almost never here anyway. So I make use of the empty training space. The way of the sword is my way of life, so I'll train hard to become the best. I won't accept anything less.

I've been training for half an hour now; running through moves, techniques and mind tactics. Kendo's not as easy as it looks, there's way more too it. However, although I love kendo, at around this time the teachers will be sealed in their classrooms for an hour of marking so there's no chance of me being seen… so I can pull out what I really love to train with; three REAL swords. This is my real style; what I'm best at. When I swing these deadly blades I feel a sense of power surge over me and imagine that the air I'm cutting is really a future enemy, getting in my way of being the best. Anyone who dares to…

"Three swords is a lot of weight to be swinging around. You should just dump two of them already." I stop dead in the middle of my attack and turn quickly to see the face of the arrogant statement clearly directed at me.

"Who the…?!" I don't know the voice and now that I've turned around I can see that I don't know the face either. He's blonde and has blue eyes (well, eye since only his right eye is visible since his left is covered by his hair), the eyebrow above that eye curves up into a swirl, he's tall but still an inch shorter than me with a slender figure. From what I can tell, he's skinnier than me he's not just skin and bones… He's standing in the entrance of the dojo smoking a cigarette and looking cocky as hell. And I am sure _as hell_ not letting him get away with saying shit like that!

"Look, whoever you are, it's my style. So piss off."

"Do you really not trust your own strength that you have to hide behind three blades? You must really be weak."

"What the fuck would you know? You don't know me! I bet I'm a hell of a lot stronger than you; Skinny asshole!"

"LIKE HELL! There's no way a shitty marimo[4] like you is stronger than me!"

"M… Marimo? What the fuck?!" I yell. I've never been called something so idiotic! "Why would you call me that?!"

"Your hair is green." He pointed out. "Like moss. Hence, marimo."

"That's it, you want to fight you swirly brows?!" I can tell that struck a nerve because he flicks away his cigarette and walks up to me with a fiery look on his face.

"Sure, if you want to lose, asshole." I angrily hold out one of my swords for him to use. He snorts.

"You think I'd fight using one of those toothpicks? I use my own physical strength." That's it. This stuck up punk is going down.

I was surprised. His style is strange and I didn't expect it. When he placed his hands in his pockets I thought he was mocking me, until I nearly had my head kicked off! His kicks are fast and, I could feel from the strength of the wind caused by the kick that, they were bloody strong kicks. He seemed surprised that I dodged but smirked and released some of his attacks onto me. Muttering their names as he performed them, like I do, he struck me again and again with inhumanly powerful kicks. Whenever I used one of my own attacks he was prepared and either dodged or blocked it with his feet. I couldn't believe it. I was using real swords, with very real blades. Yet, he can block them with his feet and I can block some of his kicks with my blades and not cut him! We both end up going full out and after just 10 minutes we're standing across from each other; breathing heavily, our faces flushed and sweat dripping from our brows. It's incredible… we're so evenly matched. I realised this and replaced my swords back into their sheaths.

So our spur of the moment spar ended in a draw… he was too good for me to teach him a lesson and damn, fighting me just with kicks… He's definitely better than I predicted.

"You're pretty good, stranger."

"Not too bad yourself, Marimo." I frown. Was that meant to be a compliment?! I couldn't tell over the sound of the insulting name.

"Tell me." I start. "What's the deal with the kicking? You don't use your hands at all?"

"Nope. I use my hands only for cooking, not fighting. If I damage my hands in a fight then I won't be able to cook." He's different when he's not being critical or being an arse. He sounds passionate…

"What's your deal with the kendo getup?" He asks me indicating to my training uniform.

"Hm? I'm Roronoa Zoro; leader of this schools kendo cub and soon to be best swordsman in the world." I undo the top half of my uniform and allow it to drape around my shoulders. I see him staring intensely at my chest from the corner of his eye.

"What?" I grunt, turning fully towards him.

"Scar…" He doesn't raise his eyes from the long, bumpy scar that runs long my chest. I look down at my chest and shrug.

"Oh, this; it's just a result of a motorbike accident." I state bluntly. He mumbles something to himself, turns, and starts walking towards the exit.

"Wha…? Wait! Aren't you going to tell me who the hell you are?!" He stops at the exit and looks back and for some reason my heart thumps once loudly in my ear.

"You'll find out who I am soon and we'll fight again for sure so that I can win. Remember it." He stresses the word; _remember_. And with that, he left. Leaving me here wondering what the hell had just happened and who on earth he was.

It's now five hours later and I'm no closer to understanding the events that had just occurred or understanding why I can't get his image out of my head or why my heart thumps loudly when I remember how he looked against the light at the exit; with his cheeks still flushed from the spar and his hair being slightly brushed by the wind… I mean, I'm not head over heels for the guy; he said some shitty things and clearly has an attitude that clashes with mine. But… there's something about him that mesmerises me… not the mystery behind his identity or fighting style (although those are both bugging me too), it's something else; something more… interesting and almost, familiar.

I lied about my scar; I was told I received it in a motorbike accident and that I didn't remember anything about it because I'd also hit my head but I'm not 100% sure that's the entire truth. You don't get a vicious scar like this from an accident on the road. Of course, I still use this excuse since I don't know what actually happened and I wouldn't give a stranger any other information other than the basics.

He said we'd fight again so I guess today I made a new enemy… and that disappoints me for some reason. He's strong so if we do fight again I'm sure I'd get some good experience from it, which is good, but I have this nagging feeling like I don't want to just fight with him… I mean, not that I'd want to do anything else with him… hell, I don't even know what I mean when I say else. What else would I do with a guy I just met and don't even know the name of. I shouldn't be concerning myself with this. The only thing I should care about is my training… yeah; the dojo should be vacant of kids now so I'll go train to get that damn swirly brow guy out of my head. I've been lying on my bed whilst I thought about all this and as I stand I can see my reflection in my window next to my bed. I look up at my hair and run a hand through my green spikes. 'Marimo'…? Shitty swirly brows.

Today started off in the same old routine. I met Luffy, Ace and Ussop as I left my family's dojo and listened as they all yammered on about fantastical tales of adventures and great tasting foods. These three are the closest to friends that I have. Ussop is a long nosed compulsive liar with long curly brown hair. Everyone knows all the amazing stories he tells of him being brave and doing heroic things are just lies but nobody minds because his lies never hurt anyone and he's genuinely a good guy who just likes to put a smile on people's faces. He's probably the only one out of the four of us who's good at more than just one subject in school. He's amazing in science (especially chemistry), able to write entire professional-level novels for Japanese Language and as for any long range type sports; He's the best.

Luffy on the other hand is a walking time bomb. He's always constantly getting laid into by the teachers from stealing from the cafeteria or doing something else ridiculous like climbing the school's flag pole and just sitting on the top for an hour. He's a magnet for trouble and a complete moron in school. The only reason he still goes to Sunny academy is because his father holds a great influence in the local schools and because Luffy enjoys going here he's able to continue going here because his father makes it so. His brother Ace is just as hopeless. He's a few years older but has been held back two years because he didn't complete his final exams... twice. He has a tendency to fall asleep in the middle of things like tests, P.E lessons, talking, walking and eating. How? I don't even know how to begin to explain it… You'll just be talking to him whilst walking and in the middle of a sentence he'll just stop dead in his tracks and start snoring.

I don't get these people, but I'd be a complete loner without them and I enjoy their loud company. As we walk, I can tell Ace is itching to ask me something and he waits until Luffy is engrossed in one of Ussop's lies to ask me. (I swear, Luffy is one of the only people who genuinely believes his embellished shit).

"So hey, Zoro, I was walking past the school around four yesterday and I saw you leave with a pissed off expression on your face. You usually train until around five, right? Why'd you leave so early?" He asks me directly.

"Nothing serious, I just got bored of training yesterday so I left early." I lie.

"You sure? You looked somewhat annoyed, like someone had said something to you."

"As if I'd let anything anyone said bother me so much as to leave training early." I cross my arms to emphasise my point.

"I don't know; you are kind of sensitive when people say things to you that you don't like or agree with."

"I am not!" I yell defensively, not realising until afterwards the smirk on Ace's face because I just proved his point. "Tsk, whatever." I mumble.

"Well if you don't want to talk about it, I guess, I can't make you." He sighs. "Just don't let whatever actually happened plague your mind too much, it's not healthy."

"I told you all there is to it; there's nothing more to talk about." I protest.

"Sure." He smiles. I frown.

Ace knows that more happened, hell I wouldn't be surprised if he knew exactly what happened; he's always been that sort of guy who's able to read people's expressions and figure out what's wrong. It's probably because he's very charismatic. He's also surprisingly good when it comes to giving advice; he's helped me before so I should know. But in this case I just don't feel like talking about it. I mean, I don't even really understand what happened and I'm the one it happened to. He probably can't guess the entire situation because he's never met the swirly brow guy, which is good I guess because I just want to forget it.

We reach school and split up to go to our different homerooms (Ace and Ussop are both in different classes, Luffy is in the same as me). When Luffy and I enter our homeroom I can see loads of girls from other classes talking to girls in my class, but I don't know why. There's never usually this many students from other classes here before the final bell rings. As I walk past a group to reach my desk I hear some of the girls giggle and say things like 'you're so lucky to be in this class'. 'Lucky'? This class is nothing special, we're one of the smallest classes and nobody in here is particularly amazing, so I wonder why now the girls in this class are lucky.

The final bell rings so the bundles of girls are forced to leave and return to their own homerooms, which is good because it was way too crowded in here. We stand as Mr Whitebeard enters the room and sit when he tells us to and, as we sit, I see the principal (Mr S Franky) enter just after him. Mr Whitebeard stands beside his desk and Mr Franky stands in front of it like he's just about to announce something to the class.

"Good morning students. As you've all heard; a new student has arrived at Suuuuper Sunny Academy today!" He yells, falling into his ridiculous signature pose. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that, not that I care. I'm not in the slightest bit interested. "And your class has been chosen as our new student's homeroom." Well, of course. Our class is pretty much the only one with spaces and we are the smallest. "So, let me introduce our new student; Sanji. Be sure to make him feel welcome."

And with that introduction, Mr Franky ushered in the new student and, I swear, my heart stopped for a moment. When I saw that golden hair, shiny blue eye and twirly right eyebrow I realised that I actually was… quite interested…

TBC

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

This is my first EVER fanfic so let me know EXACTLY what you think :3

In case you didn't know;

[1] Kendo – A Japanese sport using wooden swords and heavy armour.

[2] Dojo – The training hall for martial arts students

[3] Sensei – A formal way of addressing your teacher

[4] Marimo – A type of moss

BTW: The rating may change in the future, i'm not sure how far I should make them go yet. Fufu ;)

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 :Completely uninterested…

I kept my cool and made sure my expression showed nothing but utter disinterest and boredom as he stepped into the room and stood in front of the class. However, I really was attentive. My mind started to notice things I'd usually never give a damn about; like the fact that last night he was wearing a black suite and he looked lean and sophisticated but now he was wearing our school uniform (Cream shirt, brown jumper and brown trousers; with his top button open) and he didn't look anything like he did last night. He looked… cute… What the hell? Quit it brain! This guy is an ass and you know it! As he looked around the class of staring eyes he stopped for a moment on my gaze before returning his eyes to the whole class. Placing one hand on his chest and one behind his back, he bowed as he introduced himself, with a smile.

"My name is Sanji, pleased to meet you all." You could hear all the girls mumbling to each other and falling for his gentleman act. If only they'd seen him last night they'd know that all that is just a show and that he's really an asshole.

With all the formalities over, Mr Franky left and Swirly brows was given his seat which was diagonally opposite to mine on my left. Mr Whitebeard left the classroom for the rest of homeroom time and told us to chat amongst ourselves and get to know the new student better. Of course, as soon as he left all the girls swarmed around Sanji and bombarded him with questions and from what I could tell, he loved the attention.

I decided to close my eyes and sleep until first period but I couldn't drift off because all I could hear was girls asking questions and Sanji answering them.

"So your dad's a famous chef right? Do you cook?" One of the girls asks.

"He is and I do, in fact I'm way better than my old man."

"This school has a cooking club, will you be joining it?" Another girl asked.

"I will, but only if you ladies promise to visit when I'm there so that you can try my cooking." They all giggled. I think the cooking club is about to become a hell of a lot more popular in the next few days. Geez, I don't know why but his flirting with those girls really bugs me. Not like I'm jealous that he's getting attention, he's the new kid so it's expected and I never get female attention so I'm used to that (plus I don't care about that anyway). It just, irritates me because he was such an asshole to me yesterday on first impression but he's putting on such a solid nice guy act for them.

I only looked over when I heard Luffy's voice ask a question. A typical Luffy question, of course.

"Hi! I'm Luffy! Can I try your food? I like meat. I bet your cooking's awesome, so I want to try it! Can I?" Luffy hangs around the cooking club a lot and acts as their personal taster; he'll eat anything and, if you're not careful, everything.

"Sure, I'll cook you something. But these ladies get first dibs."

"That's fine! As long as its meat! I like meat!" Luffy grinned. What the hell? He's being so casual to Luffy yet he was a complete jerk to me without hesitation! Damn cook. I just… I guess… I'm a bit… Jealous!

It's been a week since Sanji started here; its lunch time and I somehow made my way to the cooking clubs room, I meant to go past the dojo to see if sensei was in (unlikely) but ended up here instead. Maybe I was meant to take a few more lefts to reach the dojo? Since I was here and, not interested in the mysterious swirly brows, I decide to have a look. Needless to say that it's recently been more crowded than usual but I used the excuse of looking for Luffy to get in. And of course, he was there (and has been every lunchtime for the past week. So I was able to stand at the back of the room and 'wait for him' whilst observing the new member of the cooking club in action. I watched with a blank expression as his cooking skills were made clear to everyone and stood there with my heart beating rapidly inside my chest as his long slender arms did what seemed natural to them. It looked like he was cooking enough to serve an army and from the amount of people who were only there to watch him and try his cooking, not including me, it wasn't surprising.

It didn't take him long to finish and plate up all of the food; and all in an instant all of the girls watching were grabbing a plate and complimenting him on his amazingly tasty meal. I wanted more than anything to try his cooking but I didn't want him knowing I was there to see him so I stayed standing at the back waiting for Luffy to finish eating three meals so we could leave. I think Luffy's told Sanji that he's his new friend because he's talking to him a lot and really enjoying his food. Besides, that's what Luffy does; if he likes you and you're a decent person he just openly states to you that you're his friend and from then on you don't really have a choice because Luffy's already decided that's the way it's going to be. I wish I could be that carefree and ask the cook to be my friend (I'd prefer that much more than being enemies) but, as it stands, I find myself praying that the cook would be too distracted by all the attention and praise that he wouldn't notice me at all. But to my dismay, he looked up and saw me standing at the back. He pardoned himself from the crowd, told them to keep enjoying the food.

Now he's walking over to me with a plate of food in one hand and a glass in his other.

"We meet again, marimo."

"It's a pretty good act you're putting on Shitty cook, you've got everyone fooled."

"Act? You think treating ladies in the proper manner is just me acting? You really are just a shitty marimo." He put forward the plate of food.

"What's that?"

"Its food, you idiot. Its lunchtime and Luffy said you don't usually eat lunch but you should, so eat."

"Give it to someone else, why do you care if I eat or not?" I push the plate away. Even though I really do want to eat it, I stand firm so as not to let him know that.

"I'm a chef so as long as you're here and I know you're not eating properly I'm going to make you eat." He holds the plate up to my face. "Now eat it before I kick you for being a stupid fuck. I don't want to since there are ladies present but my obligation as a chef comes first. So eat."

He… He's worried about me? No, it's just as he says; it's his obligation as a chef. Nothing more. I mean, we've still technically just met so we're still strangers and nothing more (Maybe enemies). Well, since I wanted to try it anyway, I guess I'll save a fight an eat it. I take it from him with a grumble and take the fork he offers me with it.

"Thanks." I put bluntly. He places the glass on the counter next to me.

"That's for you too, Luffy says you like alcohol." He says indicating to the glass. "I don't expect a marimo like you to appreciate the food's true flavour or anything. Everything probably tastes bland to you because you have no taste buds. But make sure you eat the lot. I don't like people wasting food." He starts to walk away but stops when I say;

"Whatever, swirly brows! I'm only going to eat this because I am hungry and, for your information, I don't eat lunch because I forget to not because I don't want to!" There's a momentary pause before he turns around and replies;

"You know you just made yourself sound like even more of an idiot right?" Shit, he's right. I completely blurted out something worse than him just assuming that I didn't eat because I didn't want to. I'm paralysed with embarrassment and can't even think of a witty reply.

"Well, if you just forget then I'll make lunch for you and give it to you every day to make sure you eat it so that you can't forget." W… what? Why would he do that?

"Don't. I don't need you to do that for me out of pity or anything." I huff.

"It's not pity, you shit head. It's because I'm a chef and Luffy asked me to do the same for him." So, he's already got him making him lunch has he? Luffy sure is a crafty one. But then again, thanks to him, I'll be seeing the cook a lot more and not just for arguments.

I say nothing more and he walks back over to the crowd of people and is pulled back into the centre so that he can be hit with all their questions once again. I look at the plate in my hand; its curry. The presentation of the food looks incredible and it smells delicious. I pick up a bit on my fork and am almost blown away by the perfect combination of spices. It tastes better than anything I've ever eaten before. Although I don't let it show on my face, I'm really enjoying this. I look over to the glass he placed on the counter and pick it up. I'm cautious and smell it first and am slightly taken back when I realise what it is. It's sake[1]. It's only a small amount but he must have brought it into school with him somehow since alcohol isn't allowed. I know he said it was alcohol but I didn't believe him because he doesn't look the type to break school policy. I down it in one go and realise that it just compliments the taste of the curry perfectly. The taste is incredible. I don't know how he knew but he's got me completely amazed.

I don't know when I started to think about him like this but I found myself in geography earlier daydreaming about how incredibly lean he looks in our school's uniform. I don't think any other guy pulls it off as well as he does. Plus, there's this cute flutter around him whenever he smiles cheekily at a girl complimenting him on his food. He's not a cute person though. I mean, even if he didn't have that shitty attitude he'd still be _far _from cute. He's attractive though; very attractive, in fact. His eyes are fucking gorgeous pools of icy blue, like the glow of snow against grey concrete. His strikingly silky looking hair falls against his pale skin seamlessly like silk against silk. And his body … fuck, his body. Every time he moves his hips I fall into a trance. I can just imagine him seductively taking off that jumper and little by little unbuttoning his shirt from the top down, allowing me to reach out my hand and touch… Well, you get what I mean.

I look up from the food and glance at him, enthralled by everything about him; the way he bends into his stance with his hands placed comfortably into his pockets, the gentle brush of his blonde locks against his cheeks as he turns to bat Luffy away from food that he isn't meant to eat, the boyish grin that lights up his face as a girl compliments him on his excellent cooking. I blush slightly as I realise that; although we only met a week ago, I know almost nothing about him and we've only communicated through arguments and a deadlock fight… I think I really like him.

Okay, so I like him. I guess it's good that I can accept this shit early on and not have to go through an endless battle of do I or don't I for the rest of the year but that doesn't make this any easier. Firstly, there's the question of why. I don't bloody know why! I mean, he's kind of my type, I'd have probably thought he was hot even if we hadn't met before he arrived at the classroom door, but I probably wouldn't have felt this way as quickly as I am now. I mean, I just know that my heart has been beating a little faster since I've met him and that I have to try a whole lot harder to keep my face looking stern to hide my emotions when I'm around him. I'm not saying its love; I just have this desire to touch him. Which leads me to my second problem; He's obviously straight. I mean, he wouldn't be like that around women if he wasn't and because of that I can't confess to him because he'll just think I'm creepy and never talk to me again. The relationship we've got right now is rocky enough so there's absolutely no chance for me at the moment. But I just can't honestly friendly towards him. I don't know why, I just can't. It's like we're natural born enemies. Which, again, sucks.

True to his word, Sanji's brought me (and Luffy) lunch for the whole week. He's even started making Ussop and Ace lunches and we all eat together under the huge tree in the school field. Ace, Luffy, Ussop and I have always eaten here because there's a bench and the huge tree offers shade in the summer and protection from rain and snow in winter. Since Luffy declared Sanji his friend, as I thought he had, he brought him over and told us all to be friends too. Turns out, he gets along really well with those three and I guess it's because he really is a people person and not just with girls. He picks up that Ussop's stories are lies but always pretends to go along with it because he knows it makes him happy, he and ace just seem to get along like old friends and he's able to keep Luffy quiet by feeding him. And then there's me. He barely talks to me and when he does its 'shitty marimo' and a face full of glares and huffs whenever I reply 'shitty twirly brows'.

I don't get it; if he hates me so much then why does he continue to make me lunch and make the effort of talking to me at all. Although, he seems to act as if it's justified which makes me wonder if I've done something to him before… or if he just hates my very existence just for the hell of it; which really pisses me off. Here I am, having dreams about him and wishing to touch his pale skin and make him all submissive and moan my name in a sexy voice (I admit the things I think of make me feel like a pervert) and he's there hating my guts for no obvious reason. I wish I could know why he dislikes me so much, at least then I'd be able to do something about it. But as it is all I can do is look and wish and continue having my creepy thoughts.

TBC

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Thanks for reading! Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

Sorry for Zoro's perviness! lol

[1] Sake - A type of Japanese ale.

BTW: The rating may change in the future, i'm not sure how far I should make them go yet. Fufu ;)

Okay, I know I'm posting this quickly considering I only just posted Chapter 1 but I'm just impatient... lol

I'll upload the next chapter sometime next week since it's half term so i'll have no school :3

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Admit it…

It's been almost a month since the new student arrived. The initial buzz around the school has worn off and at the end of the third week it almost feels normal seeing him every day. Well, it would be if I didn't feel this way about him. Every day my longing increases, I want to do more and more to him, and it doesn't help that he seems to hate me more than he used to when we first met (making me feel as though our relationship is getting even thornier). I _always_ get 'shitty idiot' and 'damn marimo' (I don't think he's ever once said my actual name) and it's almost always followed up by an insult or sarcastic remark. I guess, from someone else's perspective you could say it's almost like friendly banter; but I know better and I understand that he still doesn't consider me a friend. So I always give as good as I get and respond with equally rude insults. Admittedly, it's almost fun to irritate him...

Our arguments usually start from something childish (usually the topic of his cooking) and go something like this:

"What's that you shitty piece of moss? Want to say that again to my face?"

"You heard me shit cook. You got a problem?"

"Fuck you! Go and play with your pathetic toothpicks and get your green self out of my eyesight!"

"I will if you pluck your ridiculous swirly brow."

And so on...

Even so, I have more of a want to be around him now, whenever he's not here I'm thinking about him. Thinking about how I can make things better and the possible reasons to why he hates me. The only time I get a break is during my training. However, when I train in the school dojo I remember our fight and how hot he looked as he breathed heavily and sweat dripped from his forehead and down past his flushed cheeks. Sometimes, in my dreams, my brain takes that image and places it into a different scenario altogether… I have a sick mind. But, I guess, that's what I really want. Everyone has impossible dreams and he's mine.

We're sitting on the bench during lunch. Sanji's not here yet as he had to head over to the cooking club to help a member with a dish he wanted to make, but he told us he'd only take around 10 minutes. Luffy's sitting on the top of the bench cross legged. Watching religiously like a lookout and waiting eagerly for Sanji to return bringing him lunch. Ace and Usopp are sitting on the far seat of the bench and I'm lying back on the other. Everything's dyed down into a calm silence until Luffy decides to break the peace with his moans of being hungry.

"When's Sanji gonna get here? I'm starving!" He starts wailing. I swear, that boy could be at an all you can eat buffet and still come out hungry.

"He'll get here when he gets here. He has other things to do besides feeding you, you know." Ace calmly stated.

"But his food is so good! It's the best food ever! He makes the meat taste so awesome! Zoro thinks so too! Right, Zoro?!" I reply without opening my eyes.

"Well, it isn't bad food I'll give him that." I lie bluntly.

"What are you talking about, Zoro? Everyone can tell that you love his food." Ace says cocking his eyebrow and smirking at me.

"Well, we can at least. We've known you for years so we can tell when you like something." Usopp agrees.

"Yeah, Zoro! Just like we know how much you like Sanji! You guys are like best friends! Even though he was my friend first!" Luffy whines. What is it with how everyone perceives our relationship? We argue and fight right in front of them, so how can they still read it like that?

"What the hell are you three going on about, I hate that cook and his cooking; it's as simple as that." I argue.

"Heh, Luffy may be thick as a brick but don't think you can deny it from us, Zoro." Ace smiles. I blush slightly. Do they really know that I like Sanji in that way? It's not beyond Ace; he's known me a long time and is about the only person that actually knows, for sure, that I'm gay. But if Usopp knows... then maybe I really am making it obvious. Or maybe Ace just told him... Yeah... that's more likely than Usopp figuring it out himself.

A few moments later Sanji's figure is visible in the near distance and, without warning, Luffy jumps off the table and begins running to him. As they both get closer you can hear them talking;

"Sanji, Sanji! Gimme food!" Luffy keeps yelling.

"Alright, sorry for making you wait! I'll give you it once we reach the bench."

As soon as Luffy had leapt of the bench, I had got up and replaced myself siting against the tree trunk. I don't like sitting on the bench next to other people, especially Sanji, so I always sit here instead; where I'm at a safe distance from him and able to control and restrain my urges to both fight with him and glomp him. I mean, it's not him specifically. I just need to be more careful around him is all.

"You know, I don't think Sanji hates you. It feels more as though he's holding a grudge against you. Did you know each other before he came here?" Ace enquires. I shake my head.

"Not that I know of or can remember." I say honestly. There's always been something about him that felt familiar but I've never been able to tell what it was or why I felt like I knew it. Ace sighs and the conversation ends as Sanji steps up to the bench with a hungry Luffy hanging onto his back.

"Alright we're here; I'll give you your lunch now get the hell off me." He tells Luffy. Luffy jumps down from his back, takes the plastic box containing his lunch and sits at the bench to happily dig in.

"Sanjih's food ish te besht!" He laughs through an obtuse mouthful of food.

"Yeah, yeah." Sanji smiles. He passes Usopp and Ace theirs and then mine. We all thank him and start eating. It's an amazing bento with various types of meats, fish and rice… Absolutely delicious! Not that I'd let him know that.

"How is it?" He asks everyone. Everyone replies with the expected and usual replies; 'it tastes amazing, as always'…. apart from me.

I usually just grunt or mumble 'it's okay' but somehow I manage to lose myself for a moment and utter the words;

"It's great." Ah shit...

They all stop eating and look over to me in shock. I hide my face and try not to show how embarrassed I am that I've let that slip of the tongue occur. Shit, now all I've got to do it wait for the laughing and marimo insults to begin. Sure enough Ussop, Ace and Luffy start laughing and going on about how I'd just said that I didn't like his food. Their voices high with teasing glee; it's not often that they get something like this to openly make fun of me about. Typical jerks. On the other hand, surprisingly, the only one not saying anything is Sanji. He's still staring at me blankly and he's… blushing slightly? No, it must be from the heat of the hot day. But he's not insulting me and that's shocking enough. In fact, when I think about it, he's seemed different today; no snappy insults and no menacing glares.

He's been staring at me for a while now and I can't read his thoughts. I stare back, raising an eyebrow; waiting for him to deal out the insult that he's probably working on right now inside his head. But, instead, he closes his eyes and smiles at me. And it's not a mocking smile, it's a genuine smile. That's the first time I've seen him smile like that and it really looks good on him.

"The marimo likes my food! That's a relief! I was beginning to think you genuinely didn't like it." I blink in surprise and look away quickly acting as if I don't care for his smile.

"N… no it's good. It always is." I mumble and again, he looks shocked. Then his face returns to an even bigger, happier smile.

"I'm glad." He says brightly. I can't believe it... he's seemingly happy that I've admitted that I have always liked his food; and he's smiled at me for the first time since we'd met. He looked a lot cuter when he smiled like that. I hide my face again because I know that it's turned bright red.

"I didn't think you even had taste buds!" He laughs. There it is. To think, I believed we were having a moment. I'm such an idiot for thinking he cared what I thought.

I tune out for that part of the conversation so as not to draw attention back on myself because, even though I know it was nothing, my face is still hot. I try to push all my pervy thoughts to the back of my mind and return my consciousness back to reality. Luckily, I manage to do so quickly enough that I re-join the conversation at an interesting point.

"The old geezer said he wants to meet my new friends. But I think it's more because he believes you don't actually exist." Sanji explains, Ace laughs.

"Sure, Luffy and I are free after school pretty much every day since our dad's busy touring the country. We usually eat takeout so a proper meal would be a great change." Ah, so he's invited them round for dinner…

"I'm free, too. All I do after school is work on new explosive bullets and target practice." Ussop boasts as Luffy listens in awe.

"Great!" Sanji exclaims. "And the marimo?"

He turns to me and gives me an inquisitive look. I look at him, shocked slightly.

"You're inviting me too?" I ask, the genuine surprise showing in my tone.

"Well, yeah. What, don't you consider me a friend?" He pouts. That face isn't fair; it's too adorable. But, come on! Of course I'm going to assume he hates me when he acts like an asshole whenever he has to speak to me. How was I supposed to know that he considered me a friend and assumed I did too?

"No, I mean… I guess so. I could drop training for one day."

"Good." He beams, sending a shock down my spine. "So, tonight then; the Baratie will be closed this weekend because the Old geezer's going out for his annual business weekend. So I'll have the evening off. Plus, it'll be the weekend tomorrow so we can have a drink or two."

"I like the sound of that!" Ace laughs. So he works at his dad's restaurant, huh? Guess he's not just a spoilt brat living off his father's fame then.

"Where do you live?" Ace asks.

"There's a whole apartment above the Baratie. Me and the old man live there."

"WOAH! You live in a restaurant! That's so cool! You must have so much food in there!" Luffy drools.

"Yeah, and you're not going anywhere near the restaurant refrigerator!" He places a hand on Luffy's head and presses down firmly, not bothering Luffy in the slightest. "That reminds me. I'll be cooking the dinner so are there any requests on what you want?" He openly asks.

"MEAT!" Luffy yells loudly from under Sanji's palm. Sanji kicks him off the bench and he lands with a thump and a face full of grass.

"Yeah I got that you idiot. I meant any _specific _meal ideas."

"Meat is being specific!" Luffy roars as he jumps off the floor and flaps his arms around violently to emphasise his point.

We spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and toying with the ideas of different meals that Sanji could cook until the bell went for lunch to end and we all agreed to meet at the main entrance. I couldn't remember what meal it was that we decided on because the whole time my mouth was just operating on auto pilot; whilst my mind wandered into a world of Sanji bliss. I'll be going to his home, with him (and other people).

There are so many things I want to learn about him; his likes and dislikes, his hobbies and interests, his past stories and future plans, what he looks like under his clothes... I _mean;_ the reasons for his strange habits and whether or not something happened between us and I've somehow forgotten about it... I keep digging a deeper and deeper hole for myself and with every thought about him I realise I like more of him than just his body. I want to know him and I want him to be _mine_. I've no clue in hell why but I think it's him, his soul (I guess), that I like and his body is... well, that's just a sexy bonus.

I don't even remember what lesson I just had (I only remember that Sanji wasn't there). All that's going through my head is meeting up with Sanji and the others and being able to eat his delicious food again. I'll be honest; I don't really get out much. The only time I do is for competitions and the last time I went out with friends was at Ace's birthday last year. That was a complete alcoholic disaster; everyone but me was drunk out of their mind and Ace ended up trying to set me up with six different guys. It was irritating to say the least and only _added_ to the list of reasons of why I don't get out. So, although I'm not going to let it show, I'm nervous. Shit, I'm nervous. I'm worried that I'll be too tempted and jump him without thinking because he sure as hell won't react to that in the same way he does in my dreams.

I'm walking from… whatever class I just had with Luffy to the main entrance of Sunny Academy. I take a left and then realise I've turned to a dead end when I was sure that this was the way to the main entrance. I stare at the wall with an angry pout, because it's not the way to Sanji, when Luffy comes up laughing behind me and tugs at my arm.

"Shishishi! That's Zoro for you! Getting lost on a straight path." He grins.

"Whatever." I mumble as I follow the overly energetic kid the correct way to the front gate, where we spot Ace and Sanji laughing happily together; which spikes a thorn of jealousy through me. However, I maintain my composure. Gritting my teeth; I force down my envy and continue walking nonchalantly behind the way too excited Luffy.

I'm sure I don't have to worry about Ace becoming a rival in terms of Sanji, but I'm also sure that if Sanji did turn out to be gay (and if Ace wanted him) Ace would waste no time in snatching him up. Ace is bi, and quite a slutty guy to be honest. He's an awesome friend, don't get me wrong. He's just a terrible flirt when he sees a guy or girl that he wants. Though, he always seems to respect it whenever he learns that I like someone and refrains from fawning himself all over them. Then again, I haven't officially told Ace that I like Sanji. So he may feel like he doesn't have to restrain himself if he were to learn the unlikely possibility of Sanji being gay.

"Yo, what took you so long?" Ace calls when he spots me walking towards him and Luffy running like an idiot in the direction of Sanji.

"Saaaaaanjiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Luffy screams as he jumps onto the blonde and sends him tumbling to the floor. "We had boring History! Then Zoro got lost just round the corner from here, but we're here now! So take me to the meat!" Oh, so we had history…

"Jeez, Luffy; You trying to knock me out or something? Get off me and we'll go." I stop when I reach them and pause for a moment when I realise someone's missing. Luffy and Sanji are still half rolling on the floor as Luffy exclaims how excited he is to eat his food again and Sanji kicks him repeatedly. It'd almost be funny if I wasn't trying to ignore my brain telling me how I'd love to be in Luffy's position right now...

"Ah!" I begin when I remember. "Where's Usopp?"

"He had to run off to his girlfriend or something, so he's not coming." Ace smirks.

"Ah." We'd all heard Usopp's stories of the girl he was in love with; a pretty, blonde, rich girl who was very ill but completely enthralled with Usopp and his colourful lies. We didn't know if she was real or not but he seemed genuine when he talked about her so we went along with it.

Sanji pushes Luffy off his lap and pulls himself back onto his feet; brushing himself off once he's given Luffy a firm kick to the head.

"Right." He sighs as he picks his bag up off the floor and flings it over his shoulder. "Ready to go?" He turns and starts walking whilst calling behind him; "Make sure you keep up marimo or you'll get your dumb ass lost again."

I snicker to myself; I won't get lost because I'll be _following_ that perfect ass...

TBC

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

* * *

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 A tempting menu

The Baratie is unexpectedly bigger than I'd first imagined it… When we walked in through the side were greeted by a huge old man with a grumpy look on his face. He looked over Luffy, Ace and I and then scowled at Sanji who returned the scowl just as fiercely.

"What? Got a problem old geezer?" He stomps.

"I was just so sure that my little eggplant was lying about his so called friends. Tsk." The old man huffs in disappointment.

"Who are you calling eggplant you shitty geezer!" The two argue for a bit while Luffy laughs, Ace smirks and I just roll my eyes. Zeff eventually puts Sanji 'in his place' (As he put it) and returns his gaze to us. "I'm Zeff, the eggplants adoptive father."

"Thought so." Ace replies politely. "I'm Ace, this is my brother Luffy and the scowling guy is Zoro."

"Pleasure. Well now that I've seen you're real I can leave for my business trip. Break anything and I'll make you work here for a year on little to no salary." We all nod in understanding and he turns to Sanji and hands him a pair of keys. "Lock up, all that regular nonsense. I'll be back very late Sunday, more likely Monday afternoon; so make sure you leave no mess."

"Whatever, I got it old man. Now leave." He ushers him out of the door and locks up behind him. "Jeez. He's such a hassle." He sighs, blowing a tuff of hair away from his eye.

"Eggplant…" I laugh. He looks up at me angrily, his cheeks slightly pink from embarrassment.

"Shut up, shitty marimo. Any of you call me that and you're dead meat." He walks past us, angrily, and indicates for us to follow.

He leads us through the restaurant kitchen, dragging Luffy by this throat so that he doesn't attack the fridge while he's not looking (doesn't matter anyway because it looks like one of those code operated fridges)and reminding me that it's a right not a left to where we're going. He takes us through a small door at the end of the kitchen that leads to a flight of stairs. Following that, we're lead into a huge apartment that opens straight into a front room with a huge television and an equally large sofa opposite with another, slightly smaller, sofa along the left of the other and a comfy looking single sofa chair opposite that. It's quite obvious that the kitchen is at the end of the apartment and it too looks big. Not surprising since two chef's live here. There are three doors along the wall on the right (I assume two are bedrooms and one is a bathroom). Sanji walks in a little further and holds his hand out to the front room.

"Make yourselves at home." He smiles invitingly. "The bathroom is the door in the middle. My bedroom is the door at the furthest end of the room, I don't mind if you're curious and want to look just, wait until I've put my school stuff away. Put whatever you want on TV. Choose one of the films on the rack or play on the games console if you want. Make yourselves at home. I'll start dinner in a bit so get comfy."

"Whoa! Sanji, your place is awesome! Luffy's all over the place, staring and touching as much as he can, running around with that stupid look of awe on his face.

"Whatever. Just don't break anything. Back in a minute."

He wanders off to his room and Ace and Luffy waste no time in making themselves comfy on the bigger sofa. It doesn't take long until they start arguing over what movie to watch then decide to play against each other on a fighting game. I sit on the slightly smaller sofa and watch them play, smirking slightly when Luffy choses a character that fights mainly with kicks and Ace chooses someone with two swords. It's not exactly us, it's close, but I think to myself how our fight was more intense and powerful than this game.

It's a good ten minutes before Sanji returns, with his jumper removed and shirt un-tucked so that he looks more casual and ready to relax.

"Right." He claps his hands together. "I'll get the alcohol and then start on dinner."

"Yeah!" Luffy roars. Momentarily taking his eye off the game and allowing ace to win 1/3 of the rounds. With a huff and a moan, Luffy returns his attention back the game with fiery determination in his eyes. Sanji laughs and walks into the kitchen bringing out bottles of various alcohols and crates of beer. I help myself to a bottle –yes a bottle- of sake and replace myself back onto the sofa, finishing the last drop just as dinner is served. Still blindingly sober.

"Whoa, Zoro, you really know how to drink." Sanji smirks as he places the dishes in front of us and takes the empty bottle from my hand. Ace laughs as he digs into his second beer.

"That's Zoro for you! Guy's a monster!" He spurts.

"I can drink barrels of the stuff and still come off sober." I proudly point out. Sanji brings out the last of the food from the kitchen and returns with the last of the food.

"Well, I've enough of the stuff to test that theory that's for sure!"

"Bring it on, shit cook." I laugh. Luffy breaks out into hysterics as he scoffs down the food in front of him.

Luffy has also finishes his first beer and has a second on standby. He's eyeing up Ace's half empty second can and takes a moment from eating to down his own. I can just tell that this is going to turn into a drinking contest before the end of the night.

We put the drinking aside as we dig into what must be the best meal we've (I assume I'm speaking for everyone when I say this) _ever_ eaten. I don't remember what he called it but it's outstandingly good. I look up at Sanji who is smiling as he eats his own and blush as I consider what to say. I should complement him or at least say that it's good food. I'm about to say something, as Luffy finally stops talking about how awesome the food is to take another mouthful and Sanji catches my eye causing me blurt out the first thing that comes to my head.

"It's not bad, shitty cook. In fact, I'd say it's good even." I feel a bit more confident and relaxed now. I'm able to speak to him normally without stuttering or making a fool of myself. It's not exactly what I wanted to say, but it's not far off the mark and it gets my point across.

"How would a marimo, such as you, even be able to tell with no taste buds?" He smirks.

"I have taste buds!" I demand. "And I'm telling you its good!" He laughs then stops and blinks.

"Oh that's right…" He mumbles to himself. He places his plate down and walks into the kitchen, returning with three bottles of the same wine. "This is the best drink to have with this meal. It complements the meat better than any other alcohol I've ever tried with it. So everyone have some." He passes a bottle to me and pours out a glass for Luffy and Ace.

"What am I, an animal?" I grunt.

"No, you're moss." The three of them laugh. I shoot him a look. "You'd only drink the whole bottle anyway, right." He says indicating to the second empty sake bottle beside me. Fair enough. I shrug, open the bottle he handed to me and take a sip. Damn, he was right; it really does taste freaking amazing with this dish. Luffy and Ace seem to agree and thus our night of drinking continues.

Luffy and Ace drink almost as much as me in the end and pretty much knock themselves unconscious. Good thing Sanji noticed just after we finished dinner that Luffy and ace were locked in a drinking battle and made them call home and say that they were staying over Sanji's for the night before they got totally wasted and passed out on the sofa. Sanji hasn't drunk enough to do that to himself but he's sitting next to me and swaying slightly so I know he's drunk. His face is slightly pink and he feels hot sitting next to me. I bite my lip to restrain myself from doing anything I'd regret and drink down the bottle of sake in my hand. Sanji blinks awake and looks around the room. Tilting his head and laughing at the two passed out brothers sprawled out across the sofa.

"So who won in the end?" He dizzily asks half paying attention to the question he just asked and half staring in spectacle at the empty bottle I just placed on the floor in front of us.

"Neither, they both drank themselves to sleep before they even finished their last bottles."

"They'll be angry when they wake up." Sanji laughs and nuzzles slightly into my arm sending a shiver down my spine and a flush to my cheeks. "M… glad I met you guys." He admits drunkenly. Oh, so he's an honest drunk.

"I thought you hated me?" I quiz. I know I'm taking advantage of his drunken state but he doesn't seem too far gone to make it a bad thing to do; he's just drunk enough to be more open to honestly answering questions.

"I… dun hate you. M… just mad that you don remember…"

"Remember what?" I press.

"Me…" He sighs. I blush, so I have met him somewhere before… but where? When? And, more importantly, how the hell did I forget him?

"Not your fault though… I know that. I jus… thought, I could make you… remember." He slumps completely into my lap and I can't help but run my hand through his hair. It's silky, if a little bit tangled, and the individual strands shine as they slide through my fingers. He seems to purr at my touch and I withdraw my hand sharply before I can no longer bare it and lose my mind. I snap my eyes to my watch and sigh.

"It's late…" I start. "I should be leaving soon…" He shakes his head clumsily.

"No… you stay too or else you'll get your dumb ass lost on your way back." He laughs. "The sofa's all yours." He pats the arm of the sofa we're sitting on and begins to try and pull himself up. He shakily gets to his feet and wobbles as he tries to stand straight. He's about to topple over when I catch him and help him stand up. My hands are on his hips and I notice how slim and surprisingly muscly he feels, I blush at the thought and move one of my hands to his shoulder instead.

"Sorry Marimo… but could you… help me into my bed?" He mumbles. I blush again as I nod and pick him up princess style. He holds onto my shirt and buries his head in my chest. I can feel his hot breath against my shirt and I have to do my best to keep my own balance.

"You're such a pain." I grumble, but I don't mean it.

I remember him saying his was the third door down and enter it apprehensively. It's a cream coloured room with shelves of neatly ordered cooking books and notebooks labelled with various titles of dishes, wines and separate ingredients. There's a huge double bed in the centre with a bedside table on the left side and a desk on the right. He looks up from my chest and over to the bed. I follow his gaze and walk over to the bottom of the bed and place him there, sitting. I feel the urge to do things so I need to get out of here quickly.

I turn to leave but am caught by something gripping onto my sleeve. I turn around and Sanji sitting there gripping tightly onto me; smiling at me with a picture-perfect, yet slightly drunken beam. I can feel my pulse start to race and my hands start to heat up as I notice that his shirt is loosely hung around his shoulders and I can see his collar bones through the slack of his open collar. He pulls me adjacent to him and presses his lips ever so lightly against mine. Weather he meant to actually pull me in for a kiss or not, he's pushed me too far. I grab the arm that's clinging to my shirt and make him release. My hand is shaking, my palms are sweating and my pulse is racing.

"What's wrong?" He light-heartedly asks. I try to cool my head but it's no use and my body moves before I can think about what it is I'm doing... I act on my desires.

TBC

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

Haha! Looks like things are about to get interesting!

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Good morning

I push him back and then hard down against the bed. Pressing my chest down against his and holding his arms in a tight grip above his head with a single hand; allowing him no free movement without my input.

"Marimo, what are you… doing?" Sanji struggles against me, but I press my body down onto his even more. I nuzzle at his perfectly slender neck then softly nip at his ear causing him to wince.

It occurs to me that he's surprisingly sensitive, which sparks a spike of interest inside me. I can't help but want to explore. I slide my free hand down the cook's abdomen, caressing every fixture and indent of his perfectly sculpted body through his shirt, and slide my fingers underneath to touch his soft, hot skin. Sanji shivers as my hand then ventures up further until my finger is pressing against his nipple.

"Zoro stop!" Sanji cries in gasps. His desperate moans and the cry of my actual name makes me want to go further and touch the body I've longed day and night for as much as I can; savouring the experience and desire I feel at this moment in time. I purse my lips and place them against Sanji's like he had just done, only harder and as the cook gasps again, from me sliding my hand over his chest; I'm able to slip in my tongue so that I can finally taste him. I relish in his flavour; as anticipated there's tobacco in the mix as well as alcohol but what's so surprising is how sweet he tastes. It tastes better than all of his cooking combined; I take pleasure in Sanji's warmth and hot lips as I run my tongue over his.

Ever since we'd met, Sanji has always been so stubborn and acted like a closed book showing no vulnerability whatsoever. And even though I wanted him so badly, I had been able to restrain my urges because he showed no openings. Never let me close. However, with Sanji in this rare, defenceless state… I'm too driven by lust and I just can't control myself. Sanji's face is flushed pink, his breathing is heavy and erratic and I can feel the fast and heavy beat of his heart… It's almost enough for me to completely lose my mind…

He seems to melt into my embrace now, allowing me to remove my arm and caress more of his flawless body. He allows me to kiss him and even kisses me back. He moans against me, he lifts his arms and wraps them around my neck, letting me know that he's fully on board now and I'm free to do as I want. I slide him out of his shirt without undoing the buttons and toss it across the room. I start to kiss across his chest and up his neck absolutely loving every kiss on tender skin and muffled moan from his mouth. He tastes so good and I just want to savour his flavour forever. I nuzzle against his neck and kiss him again.

Everything seems to be heading towards the likely outcome but, as I finish unbuttoning my shirt, Sanji interrupts the kiss and places his hands on my chest pushing me away slightly. I blink at him in confusion. He looks up at me with sad eyes then turns his gaze over to my scar; looking moments away from breaking out into tears.

"M… sorry Zorro…" He whispers breathlessly. "I probably won't remember this t'morrow so we should stop..." My face is red. I feel guilty for pushing him to do this when he's drunk, he's right; he won't remember this tomorrow, and I feel bad about not remembering him.

"No. I… swore nothing would happen. And you don't remember so; I have to stick to that… so we can't go on." He seems to be an honest drunk, so he wouldn't kiss me back if he didn't want to but there's something stopping him and it involves me somehow forgetting him. I gently collapse onto him and wrap both my arms around his slender body. What the hell happened?

"But I want you so badly." I mumble. He runs his hand down the line of my scar and reaches up to whisper into my ear;

"I'm sorry, but you can't get involved..."

"Involved in what…?"

But he doesn't answer and when I look up at him I realise it's because he's fallen asleep.

I stroke back his soft golden hair and stare at his calm and relaxed face. In ways I'm glad I didn't go too far because it wouldn't have been fair on him and then I really would have been abusing his trust of allowing himself to get drunk in my presence. Thinking about it, something didn't feel right about that at all. I mean, it felt right. Shit it felt right! But… something was missing… I sigh, lift the cook up and replace him under the covers. Then I roll over to make my exit and return to the smaller sofa, when again I'm held by something. I reach back and feel the cooks hand latched onto my shirt again… I try to shake him off but he's got a strong grip. I turn back and melt when I see his sleeping face with a troubled look across it. He's shivering slightly; his bare shoulders shaking against his cream quilts. His very image just tugging at my heart strings. Wow… that's way too poetic for me.

"Z… ro." He mumbles in his sleep…

I fell asleep with Sanji in my arms, in his bed, shortly after that. I dreamt about the cook all night whilst feeling incredible as the cook hugged me close in his half drunken sleep. I knot one of my hands in his silky hair and fiddle with a golden lock between my fingers all night. Feeling more content than ever, as I slept, feeling his body heat against mine. Now I know it seems like I'm taking advantage of his drunkenness, again, but I think I should be allowed some comfort. I mean, Sanji's left me with so much mystery that I can't even ask about casually (albeit that part is my fault). I couldn't say for sure but I'm almost positive that if the cook woke up like he is now, clinging onto my body and holding me close whilst I play with his hair... he'd kill me. Luckily, I'm the first awake so I'm able to slide out of the bed without feeling the wrath of the hung over cook and the taunting of the two idiot brothers.

I slide onto the slightly smaller sofa, praying that the slight squeak I made on the floorboards didn't stir either of the two dark haired, sprawled out bodies on the sofa. I think I got lucky, when I see ace blink and stare up at me with a smile that reads all too much of 'I know what you did'. I feel like a child who has just snuck a cookie from the biscuit tin and has been caught with crumbs all over his face. I swallow and look at him with my most guilt free glare.

"What?" I snap at the smirking idiot as he rights himself and sits up straight.

"How did you sleep?" He grins. I run a hand through my hair and try not to let the awkward feeling in my gut get the better of me.

"Fine." I mutter under my breath.

"Is Sanji's bed warm?" He leers. Shit, he knows. I don't reply; I just shrug my shoulders like I don't know what he's talking about. "Sanji's a very attractive guy; I don't think I've ever seen such a perfect ass as his before." He teases. Well isn't that just the understatement of the freaking year. His ass is freaking perfect; I've stared enough to know that.

"I wouldn't know." I lie.

"Are you suuuuure?" He teases, dragging out the u to make a half purring noise."You haven't looked even once?" I shrug.

"I wouldn't know." I say, even stiffer than last time; Tired of Ace's nit picking and teasing.

Ace's expression quickly changes from a smirking smile to a stern frown.

"You know he was drunk, right? And you weren't. So anything you did was just taking advantage of him." He says with an eerie feeling of serious about him.

"We didn't do anything, the shitty cook just wouldn't let go of me last night so I was forced into sleeping next to him." I huff as if I didn't enjoy being close to his shirtless body all night and being able to hug his lean figure whilst breathing in his scent. I also hide the guilt from knowing that I did take advantage of him but not to the extent of anything serious. I couldn't help it if my yearning for the cook is so strong that I can be easily coaxed into a state where I can't control myself after just the slightest kiss. That is entirely the cook's fault.

"Well, for your sake I hope that's true because, if you did do something and Sanji remembers… it'll be your head that gets kicked clean off." Ace reminds me. I gulp. That's true. What if Sanji does remember? "Though, I can't say I blame you if you did; Sanji is one fucking hot guy." I throw a cushion hard into his face to make him shut up; he laughs and throws it back at me.

How the hell would I explain it to him without him thinking that I just took advantage of him because he was drunk, vulnerable and unable to do anything to defend himself against my advances? I guess, if it came to that then, I'd have to come completely clean and be 100% honest with him. Though, that would ruin any kind of friendship we could have built… besides… I just can't think of any valid excuse for my actions other than I couldn't help myself. I guess, I could say it was sort of his fault since he was the one who kissed me first but I don't think he even knew he did it. It looked more like he was going to say something but pulled me in too close. So I know that it won't justify anything… and I'm sure the cook will see it the same way. Truth be told, I acted that way because I wanted too; I wanted to make him pant and moan and I wanted to touch and caress every inch of his body. The only reason I stopped is because of what he said… I guess if I really want him then I'd have to follow the only lead I have and try to remember him. There has to be something more behind just simply forgetting him... More importantly;

I can't believe I'd even forget him in the first place.

As it stands, I can't stop thinking about him. He makes my blood rush and my head spin; an incredibly light feeling that when looked at from a realistic perspective is actually a heavy weight that I carry on my shoulders all the time. Even before I knew I liked him… before I desired him, he was on my mind from the very first moment we met. And not just in a sexual way (although I can't say that was missing from the equation) I've had a strange dream almost every night since we met, and, again, no; not in a pervy way. It's always the same dream and it's always so vivid; we're fighting together against a common enemy, then it always cuts out to me looking up at him from the ground and smiling into his crying face. I feel numb and always wake up from that dream, gasping and clutching onto my chest, calling his name. My scar always throbs violently the moment I wake up and I'm always shivering from a cold sweat. It's strange…

I just don't get how my mind works; he left such an impression on me that I could never forget him; those striking blue eyes half hidden by glowing golden locks against pale, sweaty skin. The memory of that image as he left the dojo sends a twinge down to my groin every time. So I don't know how in hell I managed to forget that erotic cook. Needless to say; my long term memory must be resting in the same chunk of my brain as my sense of direction.

"Gah, I have such a headache!" Ace cries, throwing his hands into his palms.

"Nothing compared to mine, I bet…" I mumble to myself…

It's another three hours before everyone is awake. Sanji emerges from his room rubbing his eyes and scratching his neck, wearing the shirt that I tore off him last night; which is done up in an awkward fashion. Only the three middle buttons are done up (each button in the incorrect button hole) and the rest of the shirt just looks as if it has just been draped over his body without thought. He walks straight into the kitchen after a nod gestured our way. Conformation that he's cooking comes firstly from Luffy who, still sleeping, awakes drooling and mumbling 'meeeeat', the second sign is the array of alluring scents that waft our way from the direction of the kitchen. Shortly after, an array of breakfast dishes is placed on the table and, after Sanji points out what each dish is, everyone tucks in to what must be the best fucking breakfast any of us had ever woken up to. During which, we proceeded in conversing in what activities we would be filling our weekend with.

We all spoke, well Luffy stuffed his face and tried to speak but nobody could understand what he was saying so his comments were virtually ignored. And even though when I spoke he replied, Sanji never once during the whole conversation… looked at me. He kind of, bowed his head and only looked up when Ace or Luffy was talking to him. This made me anxious and nervous… maybe he did remember and now he hated me. If so, then I really would have to disclose everything and, possibly, ruin everything.

After breakfast Ace and Luffy started collecting themselves and, after freshening up in the bathroom, started to make their leave. Once they leave I think to do the same but instead I join Sanji in the kitchen when I decide to help with the cleaning up. There's a lot of dishes and pans piled up beside the sink. Sanji's standing with his hands elbow deep in bubbly water, scrubbing vigorously at something underneath the foam.

"Need some help?" I ask. He shakes and, without turning replies;

"I'm fine." I feel a little irritated; not at the fact that he rejected my help but that he still won't look at me. I may be looking too far into it, but it's just bugging me. We're alone now; if he has something to say or wants to kick my head in, he should just do it already... what is he waiting for?

I walk up to him and see his body stiffen as he hears me approaching. I stop beside him and he hides his face behind his hair.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Nothing. I said I'm fine; I don't need any help." I grab his arm.

"No, I don't mean with the washing up, I mean what's up with you?" He shoves me away quickly with his leg to my stomach.

"Nothing is up. I'm just trying to wash up. You can go home now; thanks for coming over." He mumbles, still not looking at me.

"Well thanks for having me over, I guess." I exit the kitchen.

I grab my stuff and head over to the door to leave. I make it as far as the side door that we entered through last night when I hear Sanji shout that ridiculous nickname at me from the top of the stairs. I turn and see him half jogging towards me, wiping his hands with a dish cloth.

"It's Saturday so I'm heading to the local gym later to train. I haven't been in a while because my usual partner is on holiday. Besides, we still haven't had another spar since that day in the school dojo. You want to meet me down there for a spar later?" He says, finally looking at me straight on.

"Sure, I still got to beat you for what you said to me when we first met." I smirk; not letting my excitement, of fighting a round or two against him and his incredible fighting style once again, show. Or that I'm so relieved that he seems to be back to his regular self. He clasps onto the dish cloth and mumbles something to himself. Then after a moment he raises his head; a huge grin sets across his features. He swiftly points a finger at me and laughs.

"Like hell I'd let a stupid moss head like you beat me! I went easy on you last time, so don't place your bets just yet!"

TBC

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 A good work out 

We arrange to meet later that afternoon and I leave feeling both satisfied and relieved. I feel satisfied because I have finally got an opportunity to fight with Sanji again and I am relieved as it seemed as though he doesn't remember about the night before; unless I'm over looking something... nope.

The only problem I face now is trying to remember where I've met him from before… if I ever want a chance with him. Jeez, I really don't know what's wrong with me. I've liked guys before and not had any problem with telling them or taking them by force if I have too but it's different than with those other guys and for some reason I just can't make myself act that way towards Sanji. I want him so bad, more than I've ever wanted anyone before. So why can't I do it?!

There are a lot of strange feelings that course through me whenever I think about him and ever since last night; the scar along my chest throbs. Which is quite the coincidence; considering that, just like the cook, I don't know the origin and full story behind it. I feel like they're connected but I can't even begin to explain how. I mean, there's no way that he could have been the one who gave me it; his style is kicking so that's not really possible and, given his seriousness as a chef, I doubt he'd ever give me a wound like this with his kitchen knives. So maybe… he knows how I got this scar and perhaps… he knows who it was that gave it to me. If so, then that may be the link; where I know him from. Then again, if I ask him and he doesn't know it'll be like admitting that I lied to him… but if he does know its back story, then he'll already know I lied to him...

Why does this have to be so fucking confusing?

And now I'm slightly pissed because I can't find my fucking bandana. See, earlier, while preparing to go, I considered how serious I'd take our training spar. Thinking back to our first fight; I assumed that it's going to be full out, so I decided to take my signature black bandana. I only wear it in serious fights so I thought it would be appropriate. At least, it would have been; if I could find it. You know, now that I think about it, I haven't seen it in a while. I must have lost it a good few months ago… Oh, well. I guess I'll just get another one eventually.

He said to meet him there around two, so I leave around half one. However, because I mistake a left turning for a right (and find myself at a dead end seven blocks from the gym) I ended up arriving half an hour later than I should have. It was because of all the weird looks I got from carrying around my three katana; their awkward stares and irritating mumbling made me lose my sense of direction… Sanji's fault; as he told me to bring them for our training. When I finally show up, he is, of course, angry but once I explained to him what had happened he just bursts out laughing. Patting me on the back and repeating the words;

"Poor, helpless, lost marimo!" I am glad that he isn't angry but shit I'm extremely embarrassed none the less and anxious to get inside the gym so I can work off my humiliation. He tells me he'd told me to meet him earlier anyway because he'd heard stories from Ace and Ussop about my getting lost. The training room is actually booked for 3 so everything is fine. In fact, we still had some time. I enjoy the sound of him talking.

"So who's your regular partner?" I ask, curious.

"Kaku, you won't know him, we did Judo together for a while when we were younger."

"When is he coming back from his holiday?"

"Did I say holiday? He used to say that one day he would have to 'go on holiday' but I knew what he really meant. I bet that fucking shit head wishes he was on holiday." I look at him. He catches my inquisitive look and answers my un-asked question. "He got involved in some shifty business and was forced into running... Stupid bastard." I notice the uneasy croak in his voice and quickly change the topic. And so, we stand there talking for a bit about nothing in particular. At ten to; we walk inside the gym.

I've never been to this gym, but it seems Sanji is a regular; when we reach the front desk he simply gives the guy working here a nod.

"Ay, Sanji! Long time no see! New training partner?" Sanji just smiles and nods, not surprising since the guy seems freaking annoying. The guy chucks him a key with a number attached, tells him to go through and we do. He gives various casual greetings to many of the other employees, including a cheery grin and a wave to a woman standing at the side of a kids pool making sure the brats didn't dive in. She smiles back and waves. The woman is very young looking (probably about our age, maybe a year younger) with long blue hair and she's very pretty; which is probably why it pisses me off so much seeing him smile at her like that. We walk further into the building; passing various pools and exercise rooms, he checks every few seconds that I am still behind him, until we come to a pair of big wooden doors. He takes the key that he'd been given at the front desk and unlocks them.

Walking inside I see it's a pretty big training room with various punching bags and weights around the edge and a few foam mats in the corner in case you need them. It's a pretty bright room which makes it look even bigger.

"I rent this room for two hours and we're allowed to use the showers down the hall afterwards." He says as he throws down his small rucksack and takes off his coat. "We can quit earlier if you need to but I can always do the full two hours." I throw my stuff down next to his and walk into the centre of the room unsheathing one of my swords. I hold it in front of my face and then point it at him.

"Two hours may be too short." I laugh. He blinks at me before joining in with my laugh. Then, before I can take a breath, he flies towards me; kicking my sword out of the way and sending the same leg up and back down with the force of a meteor crashing to earth in a fiery haze that seems to steam off his leg in the same image. As I dodge, and avoid getting my head sent in a collision with the ground below me, he laughs and agrees with my previous statement;

"You're probably right!"

Those two hours flew past in a frenzied haze of sweat and determination. We both fought will our all and made sure that by the end of the two hours there was absolutely nothing more we could give. And, just as our first spar had ended, we finished in a draw. Nobody really lost and then again, neither of us won either. It was a fucking tough spar and I really had to give him credit for being able to fight against me on an even level without a weapon of any sort. I've never met anyone who could block all three of my swords with their foot and still have a limb to walk on. I didn't land any of my attacks and he didn't land any of his. It was probably as evenly matched a fight as there ever will be. I'm impressed.

"So, how'd you learn to fight like that?" I ask in gasps, as I pick up my stuff from where I threw it and wipe a drop of sweat from my brow. He's also breathing heavily and, after taking in some water, steadies his breath to answer me;

"The old man taught me. He's a cook too; so he fights that way for the same reasons I do." He flings his bag over his shoulder and turns towards me with a satisfied grin on his face. He offers me some of his water and I accept. He's so interesting. I don't think I'll ever get tired of his voice.

We walk down the hall towards the showers; we're both dripping with sweat and it's not exactly summer outside so we can't go out as we are. We get a few odd looks from those who pass us and those inside the other training rooms (mostly girls giggling and turning to their friends to gossip). I mean, I know Sanji's hot; so they must be looking at him. However, a few look at me; which feels incredibly alien as girls are usually put off by my stern face. I know my body is one of my best features because it's toned and muscly from me working out all the time. But girls don't really focus on a man's body until they're in the bed… right? Whatever; I don't care anyway because I'm not into girls. I'm gay and I've known that for a long time. I accepted that right from the start and I'm perfectly fine with it. My only interest is Sanji. And at the moment, he's all my mind can focus on.

Surprisingly, showering with Sanji isn't as awkward as I thought it'd be. We not the only ones in there, which is good because I'm pretty sure that if we were I would end up losing it again and jumped him and done lord knows what else. We both keep our eyes to ourselves (apart from me sneaking the occasional glimpse at his back whenever he turns around) and talk about random, casual things. He asks me if there were any particular things I wanted for future lunches, I'm not good on food so I said I didn't really know, I ask him about his previous school and learn that he was home schooled.

"So, why'd you give up being home schooled?" I ask.

"The geezer said I needed to meet people my own age and make friends. Lame, right?" I shrug.

"Actually, it's a perfectly good reason. You can't get by in life without having friends. I mean, you can't _not_ have friends. I tried being on my own and I ended up meeting Luffy."

I smile; remembering the time a young Luffy had coincidentally wandered past the dojo, seen me train and demanded that I be his friend because I was 'cool' and 'interesting'. I'd never linked those words to myself before but I guess I might be slightly interesting...

"Well, I just don't like to get too involved with people..."

"Are you kidding me? You're such a people person; I can't believe that. Everyone loves you... I mean, you get along well with pretty much everyone." The blonde tilts his head at me from underneath the shower.

"Are you complimenting me, marimo?"

"Well I was trying but if you're going to get all smug about it, then forget it."

"Haha, no. I'm just surprised, is all. You complimented my food and now you're complimenting me." I scratch the back of my neck.

"Well, there's a lot to compliment you on..." We go silent for a while, a feeling of awkwardness crossing over us. This feeling remains until Sanji mumbles something.

"No, there isn't."

It is around half five when we are finally outside the gym and about to head off. I thank him for a powerful and fierce spar and turn to head home. He stops me and asks if I want him to make me dinner back at the Barite. I shake my head and refuse politely but he insists and I end up walking back to his place once again.

"The geezers still gone so, to be honest, I'll be both bored and lonely if I'm on my own." I'm startled a little by that confession and think that maybe he's still a little intoxicated from the previous night. Then again, nobody could fight like that under the influence of alcohol.

"Glad to be of company." I say in my most disinterested voice. He shrugs with a snicker.

"As much company as you can get from moss anyway." He teases. I shove him slightly and we both burst into a fit of laughter.

I feel so comfortable around him. We both give as good as we get. Everything seems right and I feel so easy that I even consider confessing my feelings for him because everything feels too perfect for anything to go wrong. As our laughing settles back down, we continue talking.

"There's also another reason I want you to come over." The blonde mumbles as we walk.

"You mumble too much. What is it?" I ask, as if uninterested.

"Well, I kind of need to ask you some things and then tell you stuff."

"Like what?"

"Just... wait until we get back to the Barite." What is up with this uncomfortable atmosphere?

It's around ten to six, the sky is starting to get darker and the streetlights are flickering on in the darker parts of town. The air is cold and tense; there's a light fog appearing and everything seems to be losing light. I look at the dark clouds above us and I can tell, with my basic knowledge about weather and stuff, that it's going to rain soon. As we turn a corner, laughing, there's a feeling in the air that I just can't shake; an eerie sensation, an atmosphere of uneasiness. Sanji must feel it too because we've both stopped laughing and are looking around cautiously. There's nobody else around and the only sound to be heard is that of our shoes hitting the pavement and the chilled echoes of our breath against the brisk weather. We look at each other and shrug the feeling off; putting it down to the shady neighbourhood and the current weather conditions.

Neither of us fore saw those six men jumping out from behind the alleyway but neither of us take a second to react.

TBC

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oooooo! What's about to happpen I wonder? Stay tuned! This is where the PLOT kicks in!

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 We meet again…

If there's one thing I lack, its experience. I've been in fist fights and punch ups before and fought in plenty of kendo tournaments. I've had my fair share of losses and wins, beat downs and bloody triumphs. But I've only ever fought with my real swords once or twice. Only ever been in a true fight once… twice? No… once. Anyway, I've never been mugged or attacked in the middle of the night before; most people take the correct assumption from my face and cross the street as I draw close. So, I'm not able to act on experience; I have to put all my faith in my natural instincts.

Before we know it, knives are being slashed at us from both angles. As we dodge the initial heavy swings of our attackers, they shout angrily and laugh viciously. They are all dressed in the opposite way to your average low down street gang and more like six henchmen from the freaking mafia. I step closer to Sanji; I know he can handle himself and that I don't need to worry about him (he just showed me his strength in combat only moments ago), I just want to make sure he knows I've got his back. I place a hand on my three katana in my belt, daring the men to attack us with a glare and Sanji places his hands in his pockets; cool and collected. I'm conflicted because I kind of want to step back and admire his confidence, but at the same time I feel like hitting him and demanding that he stop acting like this is normal.

And, what's more concerning is that this is all so strange; I have this familiar feeling surging over me like something similar to this _has_ happened before. Though, it never has.

The men lower their knives and arrange themselves into a sort-of formation. Then they part into threes and another man steps out from the shadows. Now, I'm a realist. I never doubt my eyes and only believe in that which is either supported by physical evidence or is right before my very eyes. I never doubt that which is plainly before me. The fact that I can see it is more than enough evidence to convince me that something is real and is actually happening. So, in short; I never doubt my eyes. However, this time I can't help but do a double take and not believe what... no, _who_ I'm seeing.

Dracule 'Hawk eyes' Mihawk. The current world champion in the way of the sword. Though we've never competed against each other or actually met in combat before, my goal is to beat him. It's not really something I can avoid. If I ever want that title I'll have to beat him; no question about it. But fuck, I've seen him on TV in interviews and dreamt of defeating him and becoming the best myself Yet, I never thought our first encounter would be just outside an alley way. Or give me such a strong sense of deijavu, like this isn't actually our first meeting at all. Like, he _has_ stood before me before and I've just... forgotten?

I stare at him for a moment, wondering what the hell he the likes of him is doing in this kind of neighbourhood.

"You're with him again." He sighs raising an eyebrow and looking at me. "Such a bother." I look at Sanji; again? What did he mean again? Sanji catches my look and swallows hard, he gives me a quick look that reads as 'I'll explain later'. Taking out a cigarette, he acts as if he hasn't caught on to my confusion.

"Didn't your men relay the warnings I gave them, if you or them ever approached him or the Barite again, Mihawk." I keep my mouth shut, I have no idea what's going on or how Sanji knows Mihawk or how Mihawk knows me or how I'm even involved... I'm pretty much out of the link entirely.

"I believe the message was; if I touch them again then you'll kill me, right?" He laughs. Disbelief and mockery ringing clear from his throat. The scar on my chest throbs violently as his laugh echo's through me, ripping at my insides like a jagged old blade. My pulse starts racing. He looks over at me; the disinterest showing clear on his face. He looks at me like I am nothing. "How's the chest? Scarred I'm sure."

My eyes widen. It was him. He'd given me this scar; we'd fought before, I'd lost and he'd scarred me. I don't remember but fuck it _must_ have happened. Did Sanji know? Is that the forgotten memory? What the fuck is going on?!

"All to serve as a permanent reminder, that being cocky is not strength in battle." Cocky… are you fucking kidding me? I am many things. But me, cocky, in battle? Puh-lease!

He turns back to Sanji. Sanji takes a drag of his cigarette and throws it on the floor, stamping it out.

"Yeah, well; both threats still stand. Zeff's told you to stay away from the Barite and I'm not going to let you ruin the business he worked so hard to build. Zoro isn't a part of any of this so he's got to be left alone too." He slams his foot down, effortlessly onto the pavement and it shatters beneath him. He lifts it slightly to reveal the fragmented remains of his cigarette and Mihawk's men shiver and step back slightly.

"Such a shame; and here I was, thinking that I'd already killed the green haired one and that you would willingly hand over your father's business without a struggle." He turns and walks back through his men, swishing his hand back at us over his shoulder. "I'm not in the mood to play with you two at the moment; so, I'll let my men handle you." With that, five of the six men come flying at us; slashing furiously with their now pulled out swords and lunging powerfully at us with their limbs. Not giving us much time to think and even less time to react.

I think it's fair to say, that if we were ordinary guy's we'd have been dead. But as it is, both of us having a strange fighting style and both of us being extremely good with said fighting style, we handle it better than most would. As two men run towards me I instinctively unsheathe my katana and block their strikes. After pushing them back, I then unsheathed my third sword and placed it in my mouth; three sword style; my style. It isn't as easy as I had convinced myself it would be; I'm soon sweating from the amount of adrenaline pumping thorough my veins and the amount of force I'm being forced to put into every block and dodge. I'll hand it to them; they certainly aren't your average henchman.

I can tell from how they handle their swords; each manoeuvring the blade with ease, like it was made specifically for them. They swing so effortlessly it's like they're just fighting with an extension of their own body. Each of them must have been trained by Mihawk himself (I suppose he wouldn't want amateurs working for him). It takes about three of four strenuous blocks before I am able to get an attack of my own in. I have to study their movements for a moment before I can figure out how to counter even in the slightest.

My first few attacks are blocked and an equally powerful attack is returned. Putting all my strength behind it; I used my strongest technique and, with a quick mutter of my attack's name, I unleashed a furious series of slashes. Cutting both man and the very air itself, I knock both men down with that one attack. I didn't check, or really care, but I assume that I had killed them when they don't stand up. They just lie there, in their very own pool of freshly opened blood.

This is the first time I've ever killed someone. As I look at their bloodied and slashed bodies I felt my stomach churn and my brain thump violently against my skull. Knowing that I did that was not a pleasant feeling. I'd imagined getting my first kill and feeling a sense of power, strength and monstrous pleasure. But it's nothing like the horror movies. There's no movie dramatics; just fresh death. I feel more than I ever thought I would, or could, for someone that I saw as necessary to kill. I feel a cold numbness wash over me and I really just want to slap myself. I mean, I'm not an idiot. I know that if I had let them continue fighting me and only blocked _I'd_ have died. I won't let that happen. I still have shit loads to do before I die.

As I think of that fact, my stomach settles and my brain relaxes. The tense feeling is replaced with a sigh. I replace my swords in their sheaths, then quickly turn to my companion and see that he is also done with his battle and is probably feeling the same that I just felt. There are three men lying in front of him; one with his head smashed in, the others lying all twisted and broken with blood pooling from their lifeless mouths. He looks up at me and I give him a nod, he nods back and we just stand for a moment in silence. Not for long though.

Because we'd forgotten about that sixth guy…

Suddenly he's upon us; moving faster than the other guys and without a sword in his hand. He throws forward his iron-plated fist and aims for my head. I can see what's coming. I don't have time to unsheathe my swords. I don't have time to move; I've spotted it too late. I start to turn my head but I know it's too late. CRUNCH. Impact.

For a moment, I think that I've been hit so hard that I don't feel anything. I feel no pain but I hear the sound clear as day. Almost like I haven't been hit at all... I blink my eyes open. I definitely heard the sickening crackle of iron against skull… but it wasn't my skull. In sudden, horrific realisation I realise what has just happened and turn quickly in the futile hopes that it hadn't. But it had.

"Sanji!" I call. As I catch the limp cook in front of me I quickly pull out a single katana and push it through the bastard who has Sanji's blood on his fist. He falls against it with a slump and I let both him and my katana fall to the floor. I look at the cook, his face covered with blood. I scan his face for the initial wound but I can't tell where all the blood is coming from. I check he's still breathing, as that one single punch would have been enough to crack any man's skull right in, and give a sigh of relief when I feel his slight breath against my cheek and see the uneasy rise and fall of his chest.

"You fucking idiot." I mumble to myself. He'd taken the hit for me and it was my fault because I reacted too late. Sanji knew that I was going to get hit. If the guy had been aiming for him, he'd have blocked it; no problem. But because it was me, with my slower brain, he'd only had time to get in the way and take the blow.

Blonde strands hang rain wet across his unconscious features; dangling and partially sticking to the pale curve of his neck. I wipe a mist of rain and blood from his brow and sigh considerably. The harsh clatter of rain against pavement keeps the seriousness of the situation clear before me...

I've been kneeling here for about a minute contemplating what's just happened and what might be about to happen. Mihawk is just standing there, watching us; with a satisfied look upon his face. Why hasn't he killed us yet? It'd be easy for him to do so. I look up at him and stare into his dark eyes. His face becomes blank and he stares back at me. I don't know what all this shit is even about, but this one event right here has made him my enemy. Even more so than a celebrity rivalry. I want to fucking kill him.

However, I know his power. There's no way I'd be able to protect Sanji and fight him at the same time and, although I'm considerably dense, I know that he could kill us both with a single attack if he wanted to. So why is he just standing there as if nothing had just happened; Like six of his men aren't lying gutted and lifeless on the ground around us?

It's beginning to rain, as I had thought it would; it doesn't take long for it to pick up speed and strength. I look down at the ground and watch the rain start to wash away the deep red that now covers the alleyway; it's a nauseating, surreal and hypnotic sigh. When I look up, through the heavy downpour, six men have appeared wearing similar suits. Each of them takes a body of their fallen cohorts; making sure to take their weapons and all. The guy who takes the body of the guy I just killed pulls out my katana from his chest and with a blank face hands it over to me, before slumping the corpse over his shoulder and heading back into the shadows that he'd been hiding in. I blink in astonishment at this act and stare confusingly at Mihawk after replacing my katana back into its sheath.

"What's the deal?" I ask bluntly as he stares at me with an impressed yet solemn expression.

"I'd get into trouble too if their bodies were found, you know."

"Don't fuck with me!" I yell, ferocious anger building up within me. I fucking hate it when people mess me about and treat serious situations like a joke.

He tilts his hat back down to block the rain from his eye. I expect him to understand my underlying meaning since he's a logical and reasonable thinker (I've seen the way he fights in world competitions; every move, breath and technique is thought out, tenfold, like he has the entire match scripted out in his head).

"I have something close to admiration for that boy. It's not exactly that I actually admire him, however. His actions are thoughtless and range closer to stupidity than bravery." He states emotionlessly, barely moving a muscle on his face other than those necessary to pronounce the syllables.

A crease burrows its way onto my brow and I place the hand not supporting Sanji on the grip of my katana. I may not be able to do much in my current situation, but that doesn't mean I won't fucking try. However he ignores my instinctive movement and continues; "But, he's standing up for others and risking himself in doing so. Now, Selflessness, loyalty, courage… those are three things not found in the ordinary person. That kind of amazing person is rare." He tilts his head slightly. Water drips off the tips of the, now dis-shaped and matted, feather that sits on the side of his dark hat in a pattern that mirrors that of the falling rain. For a moment there is silence.

The wind has started to pick up and the rain is now hitting me hard in the back. Icy cold bites deep into my bones, sending a shiver along the course of my spine. As my body notices and reacts to the temperature change, I clutch Sanji's still body and hold him closer to mine, keeping a hand on my katana; not taking my eyes off Mihawk for a second. He stares back at me; his eyes reflecting nothing. And yet, reflecting something. Something raw and cold… but not hostile...

"Yes." He continues. 'Those people are rare and I'm certainly not one of them. Rare… and yet I've found myself two, right here." He moves further into the shadows, until only his basic figure is visible.

"However, people such as you are rare for a reason. Trade in your recklessness for some common sense and you'll be able to stay relatively innocent but with the wits about you to survive in this world." I literally have nothing to say in response to any of that.

As he fades away into the darkness my body un-tenses itself and my hand flies from my katana to Sanji's cold face. I gently brush some of his hair away from his eyes and search for the source of the blood that's been spooled across his perfect face. There's a deep gash just above his left eyebrow behind his bangs that cover his left eye. It's bleeding a lot, it may even be deep enough for stitches but, I've never been a good judge so, maybe not. It's getting frostier by the minute and if I'm feeling this bitter I can't even imagine how cold he is.

The harsh rain continues to pour down relentlessly. Almost all the blood has washed away and slightly bloodied, dilute streaks are all that's left. I pick him up as softly as I can and begin to carry him back to his place. Feeling the slight shaking of the cook's shoulders and the almost naught heat resonating from his body, I hold him tight and secure; trying to share the remainder of warmth from my body with his. Gripping tightly and swearing silently to myself that I won't leave his side, for even a moment.

I owe a lot to him right now but I hate that he went to these lengths to protect me. I should be strong enough for that not to happen! How could I have let this happen.

I hear the stomach-churning sound of Sanji's head being smashed in repeatedly, over and over in my head. With each crunch I grip onto the cook tighter, all the way back, until I'm practically clinging to him desperately. I try frantically to erase the sickening sound from my brain and focus on him. Right now, he needs me to be able to look after him. I can't do that if I keep momentarily freezing from shock. I need to be mentally stable. I look down at him and remind myself that he's still alive, force myself to push the eerie sound to the back of my mind and continue walking.

I want to know, more than ever before, what happened the first time I met Mihawk. Mihawk said that he was with me 'again.' So the cook must have been there the first time. That's got to be the link. How the fuck could I forget an event such as that? I need to remember. I need to remember... I _have_ to remember.

...

Nothing.

I think… we're going to have a lot to talk about when he comes too.

TBC

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Sanji: Oh Zoro, baby, you lack many things. Like direction... and taste buds. Lack of experiance is just one of your many, many, many, many, _many, many__**, many, many, many...**_

Zoro: I get it...

Sanji: ... many flaws. XD

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See, I told you there was a plot. Kinda. For the next few chapters alot of your questions will be answered. That's a promise. Sort of. Maybe.

Of cource, not all will be made clear strait away, but stuff is starting to be revieled. That's _fo' sho'._

**Warning; some lovey dovey sappy wappy fluff is coming up so raise your Kawaii intake levels and prepare for some propper romanticly cheesy yaoi fluff.**

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**Please** leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 I refuse to let you go…

It's quiet… I'm in Sanji's bedroom above the Barite. He's not come around at all yet. I managed to find his keys in his pockets and in the two hours since it happened I've stripped, dried and re-clothed him, with absolutely no impure intentions; he was soaking wet and cold, he would have become sick if I hadn't put him into something dry. I've borrowed a towel to dry myself off and am sitting in my spare track suit bottoms whilst my stuff dries off on the radiator in the front room. I'm shivering slightly because, even though we're indoors, it's still a bit nippy when you're sitting around shirtless. I've perched myself on the edge of Sanji's bed, where I've placed the unconscious cook. I've called sensei (the owner to the dojo I live in and technically my foster father) to tell him I'd be staying over at a friend's again. He asked me if there was something wrong but I told him it was just because my friend's parents were out of town so he was having a few people over for a while. It's half true; my true reason is that I will not leave Sanji on his own like this. But, of course, I can't tell him that so after accepting my lie and my 'tomorrow is to be confirmed.' I hung up and returned to waiting and waiting…

Great, violent sheets of rain pound against the concrete outside. For a moment I look out of the window on the far side of the room and wonder if all of the blood is washed away now… all evidence of the previous events erased. Bored with that thought, I return my attention to the beautiful sleeping idiot.

Staring at his calm, unconscious face I feel uncomfortable and guilty. This was my fault because my reaction time is slow. If I were faster, then Sanji wouldn't have had to jump in front and take the hit. In fact, he didn't have to take the hit at all and I would have preferred it if it had been me. So, why did he do it? Why… I lean over his still figure and brush his bangs away from his eye to reveal my sorry attempt at patching up a wound. I found a first aid kit in the kitchen and, after clearing up the blood, covered the cut the best I could. I place my hand on his chest and feel the rhythm of his heartbeat. It calms me to feel it beating at an easy, steady pace. _Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum_. I must have listened for quite a while, because it was so relaxing.

This vibration from within his chest reassures me that he is alive. That I haven't lost him. Knowing this is important to me… when I was a child I was adopted by sensei and given a home and a family. I technically had a dad, though I never called him that (ever), and I also now had a sister (again, I never called her that). I was jealous of Kuina, she was amazing for her age and she, just like me, wanted to be the world's greatest swordsman. We trained together and she always won. I trained hard to beat her, to no avail. In the end, we became very close and decided to share our dreams together; promising that one of us would become the world's greatest swordsman. Kuina was very special to me… and before I knew it, she was taken from me. She died; Fell down the stairs. I remember crying my eyes out and thinking about how that was such a shitty way to go. I remember kneeling beside her empty body and placing a hand on her chest, to feel no heartbeat, to feel no up and down of her lungs, to feel no sign of life… If I had lost Sanji, I think I would have died a thousand times over before accepting reality…

When Sanji finally stirs, it's close to nine. He moans and rubs his head. I jump a little when I realise he's awake and uncontrollably fling my arms around him as he sits up, holding him tight; feeling nothing but relief.

"You're such an idiot." I mumble. He's tense and unsure how to respond to my reaction to his awakening; like he didn't expect me to be this concerned. He puts his arms around me and apologises for making me worry.

I release and sit back with a sigh of relief; he's okay and doesn't seem to be suffering any mental damage. I look up at him and notice that he's looking me over.

"You didn't get hurt. That's good." He gives me a relieved smile; and I feel a little angry at his disregard for himself. I scowl at him, he blinks at me; confused.

"Yeah, but can't say the same for you. You got hurt, dumbass. I don't care for your reasons; I'm not okay with you getting wounded, especially on my accord." I grab his hand and look into his crystal blue eyes. I try and lock gazes with him but he looks away; turning his face so that I can't glare him down. "Don't do stupid things without thinking."

"Shitty swordsman. I do what I want, okay?" He tries pulling his hand away from mine but I clasp it firmly and squeeze it tightly. He struggles within my grasp but I refuse to let go. As he begins to get frustrated I pull him in and hug him once again. For a moment he is still in my hold, probably from shock, and then he wriggles against me and attempts to push himself from my embrace. Again, I won't let go.

"Fuck, let me go you shitty piece of moss!" The more he squirms, the tighter my hold on him becomes. I have no intentions of letting go.

"Just shut up for a bit will you?! Shitty cook; I almost lost you, so don't you dare tell me to let go!" He goes lip and diminishes his efforts; letting me hold him in silence. I can't see his face, but I can bet he's feeling pretty lousy. He mumbles an apology into my arm. I smile and mumble back "Idiot."

I listen to his breathing and feel his breath against my chest. I take note of the sound of his life and think about how easily that could have been taken away. Though I rarely remember any biological information, I know about fatal shots. Sanji is lucky that his skull is as thick as it is or he really could have died. Feeling the warmth of his cheek against my chilled skin I relax and become less angry. I'm still mad that he risked himself for me but I can't stay angry at him because I lo… am I really gonna say it? I guess, nearly losing him has made me realise how much I really care for him. It's not just a playground crush; it's different to any other attraction I've ever felt towards anyone. I loved Kuina, but that was different. She was my rival… and my sister… My feelings towards Sanji are not in any way the feelings you have towards a family member or friend. Loving family is unconditional, loving someone just because you love them is… more special. It's not a new feeling either, yes I've just realised it but, these feelings have been there from the very beginning. No, beyond that, it's like this has been growing before I met him. Maybe… that has something to do with when I met him before… I don't know. Anyway, Past or no past, I… have strong feelings for him and somehow, I've got to at least let him know how I feel and also make it clear to myself. Time is short. Kuina was torn from me before I could let her know how important she was to me… I won't let that happen to Sanji. I'll make sure I'm strong enough to protect him from now on; I'll become the best so that I'm strong enough.

He places a hand on my arm and the sudden movement makes me flinch slightly.

"You're cold…" He whispers, running his warm hand down my cold arm. The gentle touch makes me shiver and a blush rises to my face.

"My stuff's drying." I put bluntly, trying to hide the fact that I'm now having to restrain urges to grab him and force myself upon him. I don't want to do that again; it didn't feel right. I release him, and look away quickly. "Is it okay if I sleep on your sofa? It's late. I don't want to leave you on your own like this and there's a lot I want to talk to you about in the morning." He sits back and bites his lip, like he's preparing to say something. I wait for his reply.

"You can sleep on the sofa… but even if I give you some blankets you'll be cold so… if you want… you could sleep in my bed with me." I blink at him. Did he really just say that or is my mind suffering a relapse?

"Excuse me?" I ask, my voice coming out harsher than I intended. He startles at my tone and I blush when I realise that I had heard correctly.

"I… well, you don't have to! I just… my bed is warmer and I thought… whatever, just... forget what I said." He fumbles around and looks away from me; embarrassed. I place a hand on his shoulder.

"Sanji…" I begin… He looks at me through the corner of his eye. I lean in close to him and whisper slowly. "I really am cold."

His previous acts are almost too enticing and I can't help it; I move closer to his face until I'm so close that I can smell him, his hair and his body; his smell. I love it. He turns to me in disbelief and I take the opportunity to place a kiss onto his lips. I withdraw slightly to see his reaction. I'm not forcing myself upon him. I'm not. I'm following an intuition. His response isn't clear but I can see that his eyes are wide and his cheeks, nose and ears are reddened deeply. I'm not sure how to take that but he doesn't force me away or kick me off the bed, so I take _that_ as a good sign and kiss him again. He's unresponsive for a moment before he opens his mouth for me to slip my tongue in and kiss him deeper. My heart leaps as realisation registers completely; he's kissing me back. There's that sweet taste again… It's different than from when he was drunk, it feels more real and honest. Even though I'm touching less of him, I can feel more of him. I like it better this way; and I'm glad I stopped before because I know now that it wouldn't have been good for either of us if we'd gone on whilst one of us was drunk. Besides, I never would have experienced _this_.

Slowly, I push him down onto the bed, our kiss going deeper and longer than I had dreamed. I place my hand on his and interlock our fingers. It feels so much different than the drunken frenzy of our last kiss which reeked of alcohol. With every move I'm able to taste his uncontaminated flavour and savour it. Feeling the satisfaction of knowing it's not alcohol controlling his actions; it's him. He's allowing me to kiss him and he's kissing me back. It's controlled and evocative, from both sides, neither of us wanting to rush any part of this.

As we continue, I feel a warm hand slide over my back. I feel my muscles tighten under his touch. The skin tingling as his fingers and palm pass over. I also feel the want to touch him more; I begin to run my hand through his hair when he suddenly breaks the contact and twists his head away. I look at him in panic; thinking that he may have suddenly changed his mind; that he actually doesn't want me touching him. When his eyebrow twitches and he raises a hand to where he was hit, I realise it's because he felt a twinge of pain from his wound. I'm desperately longing to continue but he's injured and, more than anything, he needs to rest. I kiss him lightly on the cheek and hug him.

"We should stop." I admit. He nods slowly. "I'm sorry for doing that so suddenly." He shakes his head.

"No, please don't be. I… liked it. It's just my head…" I'm startled by him openly admitting that he likes it, but I don't let it show and place another kiss onto his reddened cheek. "We really do have a lot to talk about." He sighs.

"Tomorrow. We'll talk about everything tomorrow." I squeeze his hand, our still interlocked fingers gripping tightly. "Can I trust you'll be honest with me?" I ask slowly. He nods again without hesitation.

"There's a lot that I should have told you right from the beginning but didn't because I was afraid…" I place my lips against his and kiss him gently to stop him from talking.

"You can tell me _everything_ tomorrow." I whisper.

I look at his face; Other than it being bright red, he looks a lot less troubled now, like a huge anxiety of his has been relieved. I know there's a lot that we need to discuss that I've insisted must wait until tomorrow. But, there's one thing I desperately need to get off my chest, and I don't think I can take the wait until tomorrow morning.

"Sanji?" He looks at me warmly. "Can I tell you one thing, though?" He tilts his head and then smiles slightly.

"What is it, marimo?" I bite my lip.

"Promise you won't get mad?" He rolls his eyes with a grin and flicks my forehead.

"Promise. What is it?" I take a deep breath, and then lean in close to his ear to make sure he hears my words clearly.

As those three words fall from my lips, clear and honest, I feel lighter. Positive that I now understand, for myself, what it is I feel for the idiot cook with the blonde hair, blue eyes and swirly eyebrow and that I've now made it clear to him too. I thought it would be harder to say. I thought I'd stumble and, just as I do with most other things, be too frightened of rejection to say it clearly. But I realised the best way for me to get it across was to be blunt, what I'm best at. I don't know if it's too soon and I don't care about it being cheesy or fucking cliché. It needs to be said whilst the… what do they call it? In movies; something to do with the atmosphere… the mood, that's it …Whilst the mood feels right. I will never utter these words to anyone else and mean them in the way I do now. Even if I had said them to Kuina, all those years ago, they'd mean something completely different. Three words to describe what I've been unmistakeably feeling for the past few weeks and how I know I'll always feel for the idiot in my arms, no matter his response;

"I love you."

Everything falls silent as I wait for his reaction. I'm momentarily worried as the silence lasts a bit too long and I feel slight shaking in my arms. I look over to him to see if he's okay, to see if I've upset him and been too hasty to tell him the full extent of my feelings. Only to be taken back by what I see. I mean, I expected him to be surprised but, I didn't expect him to start laughing. As a slight flush of embarrassment rises to my face I lean over him and look down into his snickering face sternly but my anger quickly diminishes, when I see there's burning red across his cheeks and tears streaking down his giggling expression.  
I raise an eyebrow and look at him inquisitively. He bites his lip to stop himself laughing then covers half his face with his arm, allowing a sad smile to stay spread across his features; every so often, a small hiccup and whimper escaping his tightly sealed mouth.

"Fuck, I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I'm just… relieved, that I'm not the only one who feels this way." My heart stops for a moment as I try to comprehend what he just said. I lean down and pull his hand away from his eyes. Staring deeply into the single teary blue eye; that looks exactly like the ocean and shines brightly back at me. I brush his locks from his face and stare into both of his crystal blue pools. I know I must look desperate and, honestly, I am. I want, more than anything, for what he just said to mean what I think it means.

"Does that mean…?" I ask hopefully. He blinks at me through watery eyes, then wraps his arms around my neck and pulls me closer with a laugh.

"I'll make it clearer for a block head such as yourself." Block head…? "I love you too."

Whoa.

I didn't know it was possible to feel this complete. Ever.

I can't say anything, and he doesn't need to say anything. Nothing we could say would make this moment any more perfect than it is. However, after a while... I do speak;

"I won't ever let you take that back." I smile. He presses his forehead against mine and laughs.

"As if I _could_." Sealing off our confessions with a gentle kiss, keeping in mind the reason I stopped earlier, I hold him close; vowing to never let him go. I know there's more that needs to be told but, whatever it is, I won't allow anything to ruin what I feel now. I shimmy under the covers and place my chilled body against the cook's warmth. He shivers slightly in my cold embrace which makes him cling to me more and pull me closer. I presume, he's trying to share his body heat with me; weather he means to or not, his actions are always so selfless.

I think back to my first impression of him and smirk. I thought he was an arsehole, well, attitude way he is. But that's not what I mean, I thought he was going to be a spoilt rich kid who lived off his father's fame and absolutely relished attention. He does get a lot of attention, although I don't think he goes searching for it; he just enjoys making people happy in general which causes them to be drawn in and enjoy being in his company. I mean, he tries to hide it but, I see the warm pleasure that fills his expression when Luffy cleans multiple plates with a satisfied grin. He likes to make people happy and help whenever he can (which explains why he offered to make us all lunches).

I lie there, with him in my arms. I feel like something has been lifted. Something that was keeping me from something… As I drift off I ignore the nagging feeling that I should know what it is that's making me feel so heavy and allow myself to fall under. Shoving the sense aside I sigh into a dream.

I'm sure whatever it is will come to me soon…

TBC

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Sorry for the lack of actual stuff other than emotions and thoughts in this chapter. But then again, No.

I know they actually got together (and admitted their feels) pretty quickly but I'm not sorry. It had to be done. Zoro clearly explained why...

I like you guys to be able to clearly read how they're feeling. That's pretty much all I write. XD NOT SORRY.

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And what is that I see? Is that epic forshadowing? Maaaaaaybe... What? I had to leave you something that hinted towards the next chapter.

What's going to happen next I wonder? Stay tuned!

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. I'm TRYING not to answer with spoilers... (=^‥^=).

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 what's this? A dream…? A memory…?

It's a late Thursday evening; I'm making my way back to my sensei's dojo. I left the academy about a half hour ago and my place is technically only a twenty minute walk away. However, I've ended up somewhere I've never been to before. I swear the roads and buildings keep moving. It's quite an upper class part of the city, with ritzy hotels and expensive shops of which I'll almost definitely never enter. It's lucky there's nobody around at this time because, judging by the almost flawless keep of the streets and lack of graffiti, I'd probably have the cops on my case within minutes of any of the locals catching a glance at the three katana in my belt. Those from my neighbourhood know me and know that I'm not a threat to them but anyone else would just see the hilts and back away in fear. I don't know where I'm going or if I'm getting closer to, or further from, my destination but I figure that the best option is to just keep walking; I'll get there eventually.

When given the opportunity to turn left, I do so and find myself passing a huge restaurant. I look at it for a moment before losing interest and continuing my walk to nowhere. I don't recall its name because I didn't pay attention long enough to read the sign. But whatever, it's just a restaurant and I've passed so many already. It's not like I'll ever eat there anyway.

I begin to wonder what time it is. I look up at the sky and see that it's considerably darker than when I left the school. I begin to think that maybe it'd be useful for there to be someone walking around at this time so that I could ask directions. I grumble and scratch the back of my head when I reach a four way crossing. I can either go left, right or continue forward. Left or Right… Left or forward… Left. Left is always right. Right? No, left. Not right. Right! I mean left. Tsk, you know what I mean.

As I turn _left_ I see a rather large group of men standing in the middle of the path. I consider asking them for directions when I feel an uneasy feeling settle in the pit of my stomach. As I slowly approach, unnoticed, I realise its five men facing one guy, glaring him down intensely. One guy from the group is talking and I can't see if the other guy replies because he has his back to me. My hand hovers over the grip of my katana, as I consider the possibility that this (blonde? Yeah…) blonde guy might get attacked at any moment; the five men facing him look like they belong in the mafia. Except the guy standing in front, he's wearing a dark hat with a huge feather along its side and looks like he should _own_ the mafia.

I remain hidden in the shadows of the night as I get close enough to hear their conversation. I start listening as the blonde yells angrily at the hat guy;

"… never let you ruin what he's worked so hard to create!" I see the hat guy's lips move in response but what he says is too quiet to make out. He takes a step back and the four other men pull out various swords. I see them leer for the blonde; hastily, I clear the gap between us and throw myself in front of the blonde, blocking their attacks. A simultaneous gasp escapes the mouths of all the men and the guy behind me. I throw the men back and turn to the startled guy behind me.

"Get out of here before you get hurt." I grunt. At this angle I can see that one of his eyes is covered in his jaw-length blonde hair and the eyebrow of the eye showing is curled up at the corner. He's wickedly attractive, not to mention tall and lean. Definitely a guy I'd go for if it were a different situation. His expression remains confused and he replies sharply back at me;

"Who the hell are you? I can take care of myself thank you very much! " The mafia-looking guys laugh behind me.

"Brought backup did you?" The blonde scowls at me angrily and flicks his anger towards the closest of the men in the form of a freaking powerful kick.

I didn't realise how close that guy was behind me until the blondes leg was shooting past my face faster than I could blink and slamming into a face only a 30 centimetres behind me. I feel the force of his kick sweep past me. That was an inhumanly powerful kick. The blonde lowers his foot and lights a cigarette, the irritation still clearly showing on his expression.

"I don't need backup to defeat you ass holes." I smirk; this cocky attitude is somehow fitting to his appearance. I'm highly interested in this stranger. Walking away doesn't even occur to me as a fleeting thought. The two guys still standing turn to the hat guy who's standing at a safe distance, he nods and then raises his hand silently. Suddenly, just as I had been, two dozen men appear from the shadows; each holding various swords. I assess them and see that their strength is mainly in numbers. However, even though this may be the case, one guy with kicks isn't going to be able to defeat 26 men with swords. Hell, even I would struggle with my three sword style.

I turn to the blonde who looks completely un-fazed as he throws his cigarette bud on the floor and stamps it out before placing his hands into his pockets and placing his right foot behind him. I expect him to tell me to leave but instead he sighs and turns his head from me.

"Look…" He begins. "I don't know who you are or why you're helping me, and I really hate to accept help from a stranger, but I'm not stupid enough to think I can take on this many guys on my own. So…" He turns his face to me and, even in the dim light; I notice a slight blush across his cheeks. "Do you actually know how to use those toothpicks or are they just for show?" I beam at him.

"Let's find out shall we?"

It's incredible how well we synchronise. Covering each other's back and blind spots and alerting the other of an impending attack from an odd direction. Both of us striking down an opponent every few minutes as another steps in to take his place. Although I've never actually fought like this before, it feels so natural it's almost toxic. I can't help but spare a glance at the blonde stranger fighting beside me as I send a dumpy, piggish looking guy slamming into his lanky, pelican looking friend. He's fighting purely with his feet and only using his hands as a way to balance himself and push off the floor with. It's a pretty unique style, which I can appreciate since I'm here using three katana at once.

And the strangest thing of all; the fact that I'm so interested in this character… People don't usually manage to catch my attention this easily. However, this snappy, foul mouthed, lean, cocky, attractive and slightly cool blonde has done an effortless job of catching my eye and, further, holding my gaze. I want to know why he fights like he's protecting something more important than his own life. I want to know how he's so physically strong and able to kick with such incredible force. But more than anything, I want to know his name.

I mainly use the blunt edge of my sword to fight these guys. Though it may be true that they are the enemy, they don't seem to be all that strong or experienced in fighting. Overall, they don't seem to be enough of a threat that they should be my first ever kill. That's right. I've never killed anyone before. Shocking isn't it. Anyway, considering their number; they're most likely just the 'bottom of the pile' lackeys that deal with things, or people, considered mediocre or easy. Clearly, they expected this guy to be on his own and had planned to overpower him simply with numbers. Bastards.

As the last of them slumps to the ground, I sheath my swords and nod approvingly at my work. They all look beaten and some are wounded but I made sure that none of my actual hits would be fatal. From the eerie silence I hear a flick and the sound of a small open flame. It's the blonde; lighting a cigarette. He takes a long drag and I stare at him expectantly; waiting for… well I don't really know what I'm waiting for. I guess I expect some kind of explanation or… something. As I stare I contemplate the sort of thing he'll say. It's bound to be something cocky or sarcastic like: 'You know, I _could _have handled them on my own if I wanted.' Or 'So you actually _can_ use those tooth picks!'. Considering his attitude to those guys earlier he'll probably just…

"Thanks."

I blink at him, startled by his sudden voice and not entirely sure if I misheard him or not. He's turned his head from me and hidden his face behind his curtain of gold locks. He mumbled it, but I'm pretty sure I heard right. I straighten myself as I've realised I was leaning forward whilst staring and half smiling at the, obviously, blushing blonde.

"For what?" I ask monotonously.

"For that; if you hadn't show up I'd probably be dead now, or close to it. Looks like they'd planned to jump me like this from the very beginning… Arseholes." He spits bitterly through his teeth. I nod, though I doubt he can see it in this, ever diminishing, light.

"To be frank, all I did was interfere and irrationally involve myself in someone else's problem." I state honestly in a soft tone.

"Well I'm glad, and lucky, that you did."

I smile fully at this ever increasingly interesting guy and then I wonder; what is a type like this doing getting mixed up with some mafia-looking guys? Does he owe them money or something? I guess there are plenty of things I could ask but, for me, an important thing would be to find out who we're messing with and whether or not I should be very worried.

"Who were those guys?" I ask, sounding uninterested but actually really needing to know. He looks at me, then at the guys sprawled across the street.

"Members of the underground 'mafia' the Yakuza."

"The Yakuza actually exist?" I ask inquisitively. Everyone in Japan has heard of the yakuza but it had always been considered an urban legend. I'd always thought of it as such and never believed that I'd one day beat up fourteen of its members.

"Yeah, they exist alright. These guys are just low-downs; guys with no rank, whose lives mean absolutely nothing to their selfish bastard of a leader."

"Ah, the man who signalled for these guys to come of their hiding places." The blonde's face scrunches up into a vicious scowl and his fingers clench tightly around the end of his cigarette.

"Yeah. He's a vicious and un-sympathetic type; with absolutely no understanding of basic morals and a single minded eye for blades and sharp businesses that he can use and then throw away. Dracule 'Hawk-eye' Mihawk."

For a moment I can't believe my ears. Dracule Mihawk is the world's greatest swordsman and the guy I'll eventually face to win that very same title. I just cannot believe that exact same Mihawk is secretly the head of the legendary and feared Yakuza. Or that I was just a few feet from the man himself. My face begins to mimic the expression of the blonde's. I scratch my head and sigh angrily. In a way it makes sense, he has enough influence to clear any court hearings against him and enough money to buy anyone's silence. Enough fame to ignore the importance of a single life, to have no problem in killing people in his way and enough knowledge in blades to train those he hires to be deadly in combat. I turn to the blonde by my side and wonder, again, how he managed to get involved with the Yakuza of all people! Though, I know, just by looking at him, that he won't tell me even if I ask.

My contemplating is interrupted by the blonde violently turning and staring past me, with fire shining off his bright blue eye. I turn to meet the subject of his gaze and stare widely at the person standing before us. It's him.

The man his self, standing tall and emotionless. He merely sighs; from his lackey's unsuccessful work. He shakes his head at the blonde and then turns to me, raising an eyebrow, before returning his glazed gaze back to the blonde.

"A friend of yours?" He asks, sounding uninterested and yet clearly interested (if that makes any sense). The blonde huffs and glares at Mihawk.

"No, he's just some guy. He's not involved." I would usually be pissed at someone referring to me as 'just some guy' but I'm too focused on Mihawk to care. Mihawk rolls his eyes and begins to turn towards the blonde.

"What a waste of time..." He mutters under his breath. "This has been a tiresome game. Let's end this." As he begins to walk towards the blonde steps away from me and indicates for me to leave. However, my expression ceases to intensify and I just can't make myself move.

My thoughts race at a thousand a minute. This may be my only chance to have a face-off with Mihawk. Am I prepared? Am I ready? If I miss this opportunity, will I get another? Am I strong enough? I don't know. Should I step forward and challenge him? Should I? I don't know. This guy will be killed if I don't. I just met him, so is it worth the risk? He's just… there's something special about this blonde. Something I'm intensely attracted to. If I walk away now, will I ever see him again? I don't know. I don't want anything to happen to him. I still need to learn his name. But it's the Yakuza; am I strong enough? I just… don't know… Geez, when did I become so unsure? Never. So what's stopping me… fear? Hell no! Alright, it's decided.

"Dracule 'Hawk eye' Mihawk."

My eyes are fixed on him as he stops and tilts his head backwards slightly to look down on me. Not turning his head or moving the rest of his head an inch.

"Yes." He asks in a bored tone. The blonde takes a step towards me and grabs my arm, pulling me back. I gaze at him and notice the sudden concern in his eye.

"What are you doing?" He whispers anxiously. I shake him off; though his worry is appreciated it's misplaced and un-necessary.

"It's okay. I can handle this; we both fight with swords so it'll be better for me to fight than you." I reassure him. He shakes his head persistently.

"No. Don't get involved with him. You don't know what you're getting into." I ignore him and step forward, pushing him back.

"My name is Roronoa Zoro. I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman. You're in my way, Hawk eye." He turns and an unimpressed smirk rises across his face. He looks down at his watch and rolls his eyes.

"I don't have time for you. If you were good enough then I would have met you in competition. I plan on killing him, not you." He blows my challenge aside and begins to walk away again. I anger at him dismissing me and again ignore the mumbled begging and desperate pleading from the blonde beside me, taking another step forward.

"Fight me, instead of him; Leave him."

He halts again; this time, taking less of an interval to turn, to face me. He scowls at me, annoyed. His eyes flick, momentarily, to the blonde. He must have noticed his concern and, for some reason, then returned his gaze to me; finally, with some interest glinting in his eyes.

"I will fight you. To prove to a certain someone, that if they try to challenge me, they will die." I hear the blonde swallow. He really doesn't want to fight Mihawk directly. I realise that he wants to make an example of me to mess with the blonde, but I don't care. This is my chance and I won't let him make an example of me. I nod and reach into my pocket to pull out my black bandanna. I only ever wear it in serious fights and, I think this is going to be my fight of a lifetime.

I grasp my three swords and through the grip in my mouth I mutter;

"Santōryū." Mihawk, in turn, pulls out his huge black dagger. Charging forward and gripping my swords accordingly I twist the edges of the blade at an angle. The moment of contact flashes by. Then for a moment, I feel nothing. I do, however, know three things; I know that my attack was either blocked or missed; I know that his effortless attack hit its target; And I know that before I can process all this, I'm lying flat on my back, Mihawk is re-sheathing his sword whilst leaving and the blonde is leaning over me; his face horror stricken at my condition.

In my head I sigh, defeated. I wasn't strong enough. I didn't help this blonde at all. What was I even trying to accomplish? Was I trying to be a hero? Was I trying to prove something? All I did was make him worry… and cry. I look at him; from this angle I can see both of his eyes from underneath his hair. There isn't much light anymore but the ominous glow of the white streetlights make his watery blue eyes sparkle like crystals. His tears fill above those beautiful gems and spill over falling down his cheeks. He's muttering frantically and hastily removing his jacket and pressing it against my chest where it feels hot and moist. While I notice this, the pain starts to kick in and my vision begins to blur. I know what comes next; I'll lose consciousness. Before I pass out, there's something I have to know…

"What's your name?" I stammer breathlessly. He calls me some foul mouthed name, but I miss it as a surge of pain courses through me and I wince at the sudden sensation. I grab one of his hands and pull him close to me so that I can stare at him directly. I'm about to go, so he needs to hurry up and tell me. "You're name." I insist. Tears stream down his face and he gives me a forced, half-hearted smile.

"Sanji."

"Heh, nice to meet you… Sanji…"

My eyes go heavy. The last thing I register before I'm fully out is frantic mumbling and the press of a warm hand on my cheek.

Then, everything goes black.

And then, I wake up…

TBC

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And thus, the plot thickens! Yes, I did say there was a plot.

So, yeah, if it isn't clear; this is the acctual first time Zoro and Sanji met and Zoro has now remembered the entire event as a dream... why? how? All will be revealed... soon-ish...

What will this sudden memory recovery induce... I WONDER :3

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Vivid recollection

I sit up, gasping vainly into the darkness. Realisations hitting me harder than a hammer on concrete. The blankets fall off me as I sit up and I'm suddenly covered in goosebumps. It's cold but my hands are sweating. My pulse is racing. I don't know what induced the sudden recovery of my memory, but it's back nonetheless. I remember! I was there, he was there; it happned. It happned and I finally remember!

A slender hand cautiously places itself on my shoulder. A concerned and oh so familiar voice follows.

"Zoro?" He asks nervously. I swing round uncontollably and grab him. I stare into his wide eyes and see the same gems I saw in my dream… memory. I keep my arms on him and shudder. I forgot a hell of a lot. I don't blame him for being angry and resenting me at first. It must have been frustrating, knowing all that and not being able to say anything for… some unknown reason.

"I'm so sorry." I cry. "I shouldn't have forgotten you. I didn't want to forget I just…" I'm silenced by two arms throwing themselves around my neck and hugging me tightly.

"You remember? That's incredible!" He whispers almost breathlessly. "Chopper said you'd almost never regain your memory, let alone this quickly." I lift my hands up and wrap them around him; pleased, and relieved, at his response. "Typical marimo; you regain your memory just as I accept that you never will." He laughs. I squeeze him tighter in apology.

We stay like this for a while. Because we know that as soon as we break contact we'll have to start talking. I, especially, just want to stay here. I don't want to think about the Yakuza and Mihawk and this mystery guy chopper. I just want to stay here, with my gorgeous blonde. Away from the world and harsh realities.

"You're trembling?" I whisper.

"Shut up; a lot has happened very suddenly. I'm just…" I pull him down slightly to place my forehead against his.

"I know…"

He gives me a look of thanks for not making him explain himself further, then turns to the phone on the bedside table and presses in some numbers.

"I should inform Chopper of your recovery. He'll want to come over and give you a checkup and he'll be able to answer any questions on your scar and mental state that you might have." My scar… I run my hand down the rough and bumpy flesh down my chest.

I remember now; the numbing pain I felt as blade sliced through flesh. The passing thought that even the blunt edge of his blade was sharper than my entire skill as a swordsman. I failed... twice...

"Is this chopper fellow a doctor or something?" I ask, taking my mind to another topic. Sanji nods, he's already got the phone pressed up against his ear; waiting for Chopper to pick up.

"My personal doctor who handles all my injuries involving… yes, hello, Chopper? It's me. Zoro's here and he's regained his memory. Yes, I know. No, I'm not joking. When can you come over?"

He continues talking to the man across the phone and I wonder; he has a doctor who handles 'all of his injuries'? _All_ of his injuries. Firstly; it's obvious he must be a doctor who doesn't need to get involved with the police or anything which is convenient if you're involved with, and some how opposing, the yakuza. So, he's most likely shady and unprofessional… And secondly; he sounds extremely familiar with this guy… how many injuries has he had? How many times has he been hurt and had to drag himself here to call upon the assistance of this chopper? "Also, I hit my head so bring some of your things to look it over would you? Um, I don't know; hold on." He looks at me and places a hand over the phone. "Hey, you saw my head right? Would you say it needed stitches?" I shrug, I'm not very good when it comes to assessing injuries.

"Maybe…" He tilts his head slightly and returns to the phone, repeating my answer.

"Well, look, judge it for yourself okay? Yeah, okay. You know your way in. Okay, bye."

He places the phone down and sighs heavily. He rubs over the bandage of his wound and laughs. "Chopper is a brilliant doctor but he cares _way_ to much and over-reacts a lot of the time." He rubs again and winces. I grab his hand and kiss it.

"Perhaps he needs to, with you." I smirk at the blushing cook as he snatches his hand away from me and jumps off the bed; heading for a chest-of-drawers.

"Shut up." He curses at me. I exhale loudly. Though it's vaguely amusing to watch him blush angrily in reaction to my teasing, I actually mean it this time.

"You know, I'm actually being serious. You're involved with some pretty serious people who want to kill you. Not to mention that you'd jump in front of an iron fist for someone you barely know." He lowers his head, keeping his back to me.

"Look, I'll explain everything to you when Chopper gets here and then I'll explain even more when he leaves. I promised I'd be honnest and I will be. Having Chopper here will just give me somewhere to start." He scratches nervously on the wood of the chest-of-drawers and tilts his head slightly in my direction. "Just… don't judge me on my past okay, you shitty marimo."

Whenever he's nervous he goes all tsundere on me. It'd be cute if it weren't for the foul language. I think about pointing this out to him, but push the feeling aside as it'd only make him even more defensive. I slide up behind him and ease my arms around his slim waist.

"Relax. I'm not going anywhere; your past will not interfere with the way I feel _now_." He leans back into my arms and smiles.

"Thank you..." I look at him and grin.

"Hey, don't thank me for anything ero-cook. You're the one who saved my ass back in the alley."

"More like your face…" He mumbles. I laugh at the ridiculous and true remark.

We stand there for a while… just stand there, together. I appreciate the comfort of his body close to mine. I've been so incredibly lucky. A while ago I never believed he would let me this close. Ever. But now I've held him countless times _and_ all through the night. I notice that he's just the slightest bit shorter than me. Not much, but it's enough for me to irritate him with. I mentally file that away for later, as I decide I don't want to ruin the moment. I nip at his ear and he gives me an elbow to the ribs, pushing me away with a pout. Before I can grab him again, he throws a shirt in my face.

"Not now." He huffs, irritated. "If your stuff's still wet then wear that. It's the biggest top I have." I look at it and grin; I don't care if my stuff _is_ dry, I'm wearing this because he's worn it before… Is that weird? Whatever. I pull the shirt over my head and nod approvingly at its fit. It's not extremely loose but it's not tight either. I look over to Sanji who's taking a wide collar, light blue shirt and black trousers from a drawer. He eyes them up, closes the drawer and ushers me out of the room so that he can change. I think to argue (what's wrong with me seeing his naked body? I've already seen most of it…) but I need to use the loo anyway so I decide against it.

When I return from the bathroom I'm startled to see a young teenager standing in the middle of the living room in front of me. He jumps slightly at the realisation of my presence and turns to me with a fright. Howerver, his fear quickly turns to astonishment. He stares widly at me with huge brown eyes and I stare back with narrow, suspicious green eyes. It takes me a few minutes to realise just who the short, brown haired, brown eyed kid with a huge first aid box is. The name is on the tip of my tounge… But I can't quite remember…

"Chopper!"

Sanji emerges from his room fully clothed. He runs over to the young boy and scoops him up in his arms giving him a big squeeze. Chopper squeals happily. Sanji goes to lift him higher but something goes wrong and he stops in his tracks and places the small boy down quickly. Chopper turns to him in concern as sanji falls to the floor with his hand over his head. I instinctivly clear the gap between us and catch him before he falls. He goes limp in my arms and I begin to panic just as much as the young doctor. As I maneuver sanji over to the sofa and place him down gently, Chopper begins to hastily rummage through his first aid kit. From the huge first aid kit he pulls out a smaller kit labled 'head wounds'. I find the image of a small box being pulled from a bigger box slightly amusing, but keep my attention on the now burning cook. I place my hand gently against his cheek and feel a deep heat resonate onto my palm. His face is scrunched up in pain and he looks so uncomfortable.

It takes a moment for his pain to subside but, eventually,he opens his eyes again and relaxes slightly.

"Shit, that hurt like a bitch." He grumbles, irritated. He goes to scratch his forehead and meets bandage.

"Baby." I tease. He looks at me like he wants to kick me.

"Fuck off, you shitty jerk." He scowls half heartedly. Though I tease him, I'm acctualy relieved to hear him properly complain about his pain. When he'd awoken yestarday he'd been more concerned about my head than his own. It pisses me off to see him so nonchalant about himself.

Chopper pushes me aside and kneels on the sofa next to Sanji. Pulling out various tools and bandages from his smaller box, he pinns up sanji's fringe and inspects my handywork. A nod of approval and a slight impressed grin speads across his tiny features. Without removing his gaze from Sanji he asks me;

"Did you bandage this, Zoro?" I nod.

"I've had my fair share of bandaging wounds." He turns to me, eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar. I shrug. "What? I train with swords and fight people who also use swords. It's inevitable. Anyway, this isn't about me at the moment. Check if twirly need stitches already." Sanji rolls his eyes and Chopper's expression turns to an annoyed pout but, knowing that I'm right, he returns his attention to his patient.

He gently unwraps and removes the bandage from his head and inspects the wound underneath. It's relativly clean and still looks fresh. The removal of the bandage induces the release of fresh blood. Sanji hisses and Chopper apologises sympatheticaly.

I watch the small doctor's actions and notice the professional vibe around his movements. I remember Sanji saying that he was his personal doctor but he must only be fifteen... sixteen at the most. How could he be a doctor at so young? And why does Sanji trust him?

"Forgive me." I begin. "But you're kinda young to be a doctor aren't you? What are you? Fifteen?"

"Sixteen!" Chopper demands. Sanji laughs.

"Chopper's always been an incredibly bright kid. There isn't a better doctor around." Chopper blushes brightly and wriggles with a hysteric expression on his face.

"Don't think that's going to make me happy you idiot!" He's clearly happy. I look to Sanji who laughs as if it's normal which brings a smirk across my face.

"So do you guys know each other outside of the patient/doctor thing?" I ask.

"Chopper's my cousin. Well... my adoptive cousin I guess. Zeff and his mother are siblings."

"Yeah, but..." Chopper reaches down into his first aid box and rumages around inside it for a bit. "Sanji's always been more of a big brother than a non-related cousin." He grins.

Sanji looks at the young boy with the softest of smiles. He tussels the doctors hair as he continues to search through his first aid box.

"I just wish you weren't dragged into all of this trouble. You always injure yourself and get hurt." Chopper whines. Sanji releases his hair and sighs back into the chair.

"I wasn't dragged into this. I involved myself. I've told you this chopper. Don't make it sound like I'm the victim." Chopper looks close to tears. Sanji sees this and quickly reassures the small doctor. "But it's okay because I can always rely on you to patch me up!" He smiles half heartedly. Chopper lowers his head.

"But I can't patch you up if you're dead." He mutters. Sanji's expression turns fierce but not at the little doctor; at the idea of dying.

"I won't die." He says firmly. He says it with such confidence... it makes you want to beleive him and trust his words...

I stare at the stupid blonde. A thin trickle of blood has run down his forehead and is now moving down past his eyebrow. I watch as the cook notices the blood and scrunches his eye up to avoig getting it in his eye. It rolls down from his eyebrow down to his eyelid and then continues down onto his cheek.

"What a pain." He mumbles, irritated. Chopper notices this and passes me a white cloth.

"Help him out, Zoro." I nod and move over to stand in front of Sanji. I take the cloth and dab at the blood from his cheek upwards. I can feel his cheeks burning from underneath the cloth and try my best to restrain the urge to smirk. To no avail; I realise I must have smirked when I receive a firm kick to the shin.

"Oi, I'm trying to help you, idiot." I smile. I take a glance over at Chopper; his back is turned. I lean into Sanji's ear and whisper "I'll save the seducing for another time." His face goes bright red and he kicks me harder this time (hard enough to make it throb under impact… that'll bruise). He scowls at me but I continue to tap away the blood until I've reached the initial wound like nothing happned. I gently press into it and dry it of further bleeding. His eye twitches but he gives less of a reaction than before.

"Want me to kiss it better?" I tease.

"Fuck. You."

After quite a bit of rummaging, Chopper pulls out a needle and wire consealed in a sealed clear bag. Sanji raises an eyebrow at the young doctor and sighs.

"Is that really necessary?" He bites his bottom lip. Chopper nods slowly.

"It's too deep to just leave. It'll scar quite nastily if I don't stitch it up."

"Right..."

I step back slightly and watch as the small doctor positions Sanji accordingly and prepares the needle. His hands are already gloved up and there's a small tray with a clear liquid in it that says 'Sterile' placed on the table. It all looks a bit shifty to be honest.

"Is this safe?" I ask, hesitantly. Chopper looks at me, shocked slightly, offended maybe, and nods.

"I have three medical degrees and all of my equiptment is steralised with gamma radiation back at the hospital I work for. It's all supplied by them too... although they don't know that I use it without their go ahead." Yeah, that covers pretty much everything. He waits a moment to see if I have any other questions then returns his gaze back to his patient.

He brings the needle close to Sanji's forehead and presses it against his skin. Sanji instinctivly slams his eyes shut and clenches them tightly. Chopper retreats with a sigh.

"Sanji, you _know_ I can't do this if you tense up like that. If I try, it could seriously injure you." He keeps his eyes pressed tightly shut. His hands are clamped down onto his lap and his whole body is shaking. "I'm sorry I don't have anything to numb the pain. You know my supplies are short at the moment." The blonde nods.

"I know, sorry... I just..." I reach out and grab his hand. He startles slightly but relaxes into my grip none the less.

"Hey, Put all the pain into your hands. Hold on to me with all your might and relax the rest of your body. Don't let go and _don't_ pass out on me. Just focus on _our_ hands." He stares at me in scepticism before nodding and allowing the doctor to finally pierce through his skin to begin pulling the two sides back together.

It makes me cringe just looking. Chopper's excellent, there's no doubt about it, but the awkward placement of the wound would definately make the whole operation a lot more difficult... and painful. Sanji complies, however. Gripping fiercely onto my hands but not showing anything on his calm and relaxed face. Jeez his grip is strong. As chopper pushes the needle in his grip intensifies and when he slides the needle out at the other side he releases to some extent. Expressing the pain through his hold rather than his facial muscles. I'd be twitching and shaking and swearing like hell by now, but he's just sitting there barely moving a muscle. Even if he is going to dent both my hands inwards, and even if it is _just_ because I told him not to, it's still impressive.

Chopper finishes up and places the bloody needle and remainder of wire into the tray on the table. He cleans up the now sealed wound and covers it with a new bandage. Surprisingly, it's me who gives a sigh of relief. Chopper explains to Sanji how he'll visit him and give him regular checkups and Sanji thanks him.

"Right. Now enough of me. What about Zoro?" Sanji presses.

"Okay, okay. I'll be giving him a checkup in a bit I just need to clean up and use the loo first." The small doctor clears up his equipment and quickly excuses himself to the toilet.

I begin to wonder what I'll be told about and whether or not it was Chopper who stitched my chest up. More than likely. I'll have to thank him for that when he comes back. It takes me a moment to realise the voice calling my name.

"Zoro." I blink. Sanji's in front of me; his head lowered and his eyes looking anywhere but me. "Zoro, do you plan on holding my hands for much longer?" I look down at my hands. They're gripping onto Sanji's paler, slimmer fingers. I blush as I realise I've been holding onto them this whole time. I release with an apology.

"I'm the one who should be apologising... and thanking you." He reaches up and removes the clip keeping his fringe up. It flops down awkwardly over the new bandage. He ruffles it until it sits comfortably, if a little messily.

"Thanking me? For what?" I ask.

"You know _what,_ you idiot!" He pouts.

"No..." I shake my head. "You're going to have to explain it to me." I smirk. I don't expect him to answer but, after a thoughtful pause, he does.

"For everything. But mainly... for being there for me. Even on that day, the day we first met, you were there when I needed help. And just now, too. So... thank you."

Have I ever mentioned that I'm impulsive? I don't tend to think about the consequences of my actions. It's un-natural for me to stop and think about something before I do it and it's unheard of for me to do something other than speak my mind. Some people think it's an commendable and honest quality and others think it's a recipe for disaster. I don't really think about it much. I just make it my goal to not regret my actions or the things I say. So when Sanji finishes that sentence and I lean forward, grab his jaw, pull him close and press our lips together... I definately don't regret it.

His lips part and I happily slip in my tounge which is met with the hot warmth of his own. Ever since I first kissed him, all of my other explicitly pervy thoughts have been less frequent. Kissing him is so amazing that I just can't wish for more. I mean, yes, touching him is also amazing. But the connection felt from a deep kiss is irreplaceable. A kiss has a meaning and can be read in many ways. I hope he reads this the way I'm trying to convey to him. I want him to know that I _am_ here for him and, from now on, I'll always be here to help, comfort and support in any way I can. And as he slightly pulls away to gasp for air I place a hand on the back of his neck and pull him back in, giving him the second part of my passionate message; Whether you want me here or not.

We part, breathless, and pull away quickly when we hear the lock on the toilet door click open. As chopper re-enters the room, Sanji stands and hastily disappears into the kitchen. The small doctor makes his way over to me, standing in front of me he puts out his hand and grins wildly at me.

"We haven't properly met yet. I'm Chopper. I gave you surgery a while ago and this is a follow up checkup." He smiles brightly.

"Roronoa Zoro." I take his hand and shake.

"Right, let's see how your body and brain are doing!"

TBC

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This confirms you guy's questions of 'was it a dream?' and 'Will zoro remember when he wakes up.'

I didn't want zoro to be mad at Sanji for not telling him about what happened. I know that seemed like it could have been a possible outcome but Zoro has already witnessed how far Sanji is willing to go for him, So the anger just isn't there. I just couldn't write about him being resentful and agressive after such a deep and passionate longing. Sorry if that doesn't seem Zoro-like. But I feel Zoro is able to move past miniscule details, such as that, and look to the bigger picture. In this case, his love for Sanji.

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Doctors orders

"Incredible!" The small doctor stops poking the long jagged scar across my chest to lean back in astonishment. "It's healed so well and you've no internal side effects or long term problems resulting from it!" I look down at my chest and tilt my head.

"Guess that's just because you're a brilliant doctor." The teen's small face lights up, glowing pink, and flails his arms around demanding that my praise won't make him happy (although his dancing and huge grin suggests otherwise...). "So, my body's fine... how's my brain doing?" Chopper tilts his head.

"Well, there was nothing _medically_ wrong with your brain to begin with." He states factually as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Come again?"

"I did brain scans when I first treated you as a preliminary precaution, Sanji wanted me to check every possibility and make sure I didn't miss anything, but nothing came up. I only really realised you'd lost your memory when you awoke moaning about how you had, and I quote, 'crappy assignments due tomorrow...' By then it was Saturday and I wasn't available so I had a colligue moniter you as a replacement, which is why we've never actually met. Do you remember? She asked you if you remembered what day it was and you said Wednesday; the day before your run in with Mihawk."

I scratch my head. I do remember. I was asked a bunch of questions like, did I remember what day it was and if I knew what had happened to me. The nurse then proceeded to tell me that I'd been in a motorbike acident. I do own a motorbike so it was half beleiveable, but I never use it. And the fact that when I returned home my motorbike was fine did make me question it a bit. However, the topic was never raised again and my chest soon healed. I didn't bother to look in to it. If there was nothing wrong with me... then how did I manage to forget an entire night... day, in fact?!

"The memory loss is due to your own fault acctually... well, your brain's fault."

"How so?" Chopper scratches his head.

"H... hey! Did you know that the part of the face between the eyes and above the nose is called the glabella? Ha! It's pretty interesting, huh?" He laughs awkwardly. Are you fucking kidding me? I roll my eyes and refrain myself from becoming seriously pissed at the teenage doctor.

"Why are you avoiding it like it's a sensetive topic?"

"Ehhh..." Chopper taps his fingers together, as if he's thinking of a way to explain it so that I'll understand. "Well, I just don't want you to feel like I'm insulting you or anything..." I sigh.

"Chopper, you're the doctor here. I can't freaking argue with you because you know your shit and I don't. So tell it to me strait."

Chopper looks at me cautiously before nodding and giving it to me strait.

…

" I what...?" I don't beleive my ears.

"It's true... I've seen many cases like yours and in the end, the memory loss only occured for one reason."

"But... no, I mean, I wouldn't... I don't understand."

"Somewhere deep in your subconsious, you couldn't handle the knowledge that you'd lost against Mihawk. You just couldn't contemplate it. So in order to avoid self destruction; your cerebrum, which stores both long-term and short term memory refused to accept the data of the day as accessable stored information. It didn't have a choice in weather or not to store the information since your brain is completely fine with no defects, it had to. So, instead, it locked away all your memory of that day and the events that occured. Placing them in a part of your brain unaccessable by your consious mind. This all happened because you didn't _want_ to remember. You didn't want to accept that you had been defeated by the very man you had dreamed of defeating. I'll say it again; you forgot... because you _wanted_ to forget..."

I shake my head in disbeleif, but it's all logical and reasonable... I mean, I remember how I had accepted that I'd lost because I thought I was going to die. If I had known that I'd live and have a visible reminder of how badly I was defeated, then I'd have been furious and seething with hate and anger; not for Mihawk, for myself.

"So why, now, do I remember? If I did it to protect myself, why is it now okay for me to remember?"

"Something must be different."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." He admits honnestly. "But whatever it is, it must be more important to you than your loss against Mihawk. Your brain has accepted that you'll be able to cope with it and released the information back to you. Just as you forgot because you wanted to, you now remember because you want to."

"This is freaking crazy..."

Something that's changed... I don't know. It could be anything; things are always changing. I give up thinking about it and Chopper scratches nervously at his cheek like he has something to say.

"Zoro." He begins. "Thank you for being there for Sanji. He's always dealt with this on his own and that's what I hate most. The ammount of times he's dragged himself to me, close to death, is scary but he's always alone and the idea of him one day being beaten so close to death that he can't get to me and is just left alone to die... terrifies me."

"He's been hurt that badly?" I ask. Chopper nods.

"Mihawk wants to kill him. Sanji's one of the few people strong enough, brave enough and unconcerning enough to stand in his way and Mihawk is not happy with it."

"Why is this happening to him? He said it was his choice to get involved, is that true?"

Chopper hesitates to answer. He looks over at the kitchen door then steps closer to me and lowers his voice.

"If you ask him, he'll always say that he got himself involved. He'll blame himself and wont let anyone else intervene, says everything that happens to him is his own fault and is his business. But everything he does is to protect others. He doesn't care what happens to himself, so long as those he wants to protect are safe and kept out of it."

"Well, that's not exactly a bad thing, Chopper."

"It is if it means he'll willingly die for someone else because he holds no value for his own life. He doesn't live for himself Zoro, he lives for others." The small doctor frowns miserably.

He goes to say something else but stops when he sees the cook re-enter the room.

"So you'll require no further checkups and I'm very happy with your recovery." He changes his mood almost instantly.

"He's all healthy then, Chopper?"

"Positivly healthy in every regard."

"That's brilliant!" I look over at the cook, he's bringing in three plates. Holding one in each hand and balancing one on his head. Chopper sees this and gives a horrified shreek.

"Sanji! Don't balance that on your head! You'll irritate your stitches!" Chopper cries, waving his arms frantically.

"Hey now, my head's fine. You guys must be hungry right? I made breakfast." Of cource he was cooking. It's what he does.

"You need to relax and take it easy! I don't want you over stressing your body!" Chopper snatches the plate from his head and pouts angrily at him.

"It doesn't stress me out Chopper." Chopper's not happy but he can't stop Sanji from doing something that he loves. He knows that. "Look, I promise I wont overwork myself. Okay?" Sanji gives a pleading smile to the small doctor.

"Fine. But no training and you have to rest." Sanji nods in agreement and hands me a plate.

"Pancakes."

The small doctor finishes his pancakes in record timing. He's trying to hide it, but I can tell that he's anxious to leave and is eating fast so that he can exit as soon as he can. He thanks Sanji for the delicious food and swiftly gathers all of his equipment together; replacing the smaller box back into the original first aid box. And with his final orders of 'don't you go stressing yourself with work now. Take it easy for at least a week. I'll be checking up on you soon but you have to call me if there are any problems.' Other things like 'clean the stitches daily' and 'don't put added pressure on your head' were mixed into the instructions. I don't think Sanji really listens to any of it; he just nods and replies 'will do'.

He closes the door, after thanking Chopper for coming, and just stands there for a moment; like he's thinking. We're alone now and there's a lot that we're going to discuss. He promised that he'd be honest with me and I'm going to hold him to that.

"Heh, see; didn't I tell you he worries too much." He keeps his back to me and scratches at his arm nervously. "So… what do you want to know?" I look up at him; I didn't expect him to approach the topic so casually. I rub the back of my neck, thinking about how to respond to that question.

What did I want to know? There are so many angles I could approach from. I mean, I guess I want to know everything. The reasons for Sanji's involvement with Mihawk… Why Sanji was so desperate not to involve others in whatever was going on… Why he didn't approach me straight away and tell me the truth of what happened to me… Us. Why did he jump in front and take an almost fatal hit for me. Then, there's the completely unrelated topic… Did he mean what he said last night? Why did he say that? Is… is that really how he feels? How long has he felt like that? Do I dare dream?

I decide to stick to the topic most approachable and least awkward.

"How about you start from the beginning; how did you manage to get yourself involved with the Yakuza?" Sanji places himself on the smaller sofa and bites his lip.

"I owe my life to Zeff. He literally saved me from starvation. He gave so much for me. Back when he barely had anything for himself; before all this…" He indicates to the room, but I know he means the life he has now. "We built this business together but it was his dream. I've never wanted to make someone's dream become reality so badly. So, I helped him build his dream and I still work with him to keep it going; to make this place easier to run. Of course I love it, love working with everyone; with Zeff. I'll protect this place with my life."

"And that's what you've been doing…" I swallow.

"Mihawk has been working for years to have maximum control over the city. Gain a sphere of influence in which he can do whatever he likes within. Businesses all over the show are falling prey to his influence. He already owns most of the businesses in this area and has influence in almost all the others. When he takes control of one of them, he changes it; makes sure that it's up to his standards. It doesn't belong to the original owner any longer and it's not the same anymore. Mihawk can close, manipulate, destroy and erase anything he controls with the flick of a wrist; all because the original owners fall for the promises of protection and wealthy rewards for being obedient."

"And he wanted the Baratie?" He shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"I won't let that son of a bitch get his hands of my old man's business."

Chopper was right; he's trying to protect his father's business and will go to any lengths to do so… He knew exactly what he what he was in for right from the start.

"Does Zeff know what you're doing?" He lowers his eyes.

"No, I don't want him involved; I'm handling this on my own. When Mihawk came to talk to Zeff about signing 'loyalty', as he called it, Zeff wasn't around so he spoke to me instead. I told him to forget about the Baratie and that I'd never let him have it. Since then, whenever his goons come around, I kick their asses and send them back with the same message; you'll have this place over my dead body. He has seemingly taken that as a challenge. Not that it matters. So long as this place is left untouched I'll protect it till I am dead."

My fists are clenched tightly in my lap. So much for one person, it's admiral but stupid. He's literally asking for nothing in return. Not even help. I think back to my new (old) memory and remember how reluctant he was to accept my help. He's determined to fight this battle on his own.

"That goes for you too, as far as Mihawk is concerned, you got involved accidentally and your only interest is beating him in a competition. If you were ever to run into Mihawk and he asked you if you knew anything, you deny it. Swear blind that you are not a part of any of this and that meeting me the second time was a huge coincidence."

I've heard enough of his innocent crap. I stand in fury and push him back against the sofa.

"Don't try to protect me. Try being concerned for _yourself_ for once." His eyes are wide in astonishment; like I'm suddenly speaking an alien language. "You're trying to help others and in doing so you're acting self-destructive and not thinking about what that is doing to the very people you're trying to safeguard!" I yell, staring deeply into his confused eyes. Looking like he's going to protest; I grab his face, pull his fringe up and stare at his bandage. "Try and look at it from my eyes; you're doing things like this to yourself in an effort to keep me away from pain, but it just _causes _me pain!"

"It's just compulsive… I don't want to see you get hurt so I do whatever I can to make sure it's avoided. People get hurt. That's just a fact of life and it's okay if I'm doing it to help keep someone else away from harm."

"So, what then? You think that I was glad that you jumped in front of me? Thankful? Relieved? You think I didn't feel anything other than sheer horror and panic and concern and fear as I heard the sickening sounds of you getting your head smashed in on my account? Is that how you think I feel? Well it's fucking not. I don't want you to get hurt either."

"Look, just drop it; it all worked out fine, so it is okay."

"You don't fucking get it, do you?" I scream.

I slam our faces together, kiss him until he's breathless and then kiss him some more. He's confused but I don't care. I need him to understand and this is the only way I can think off. I pull away but keep close enough that I can feel the light heat from his skin. As I do so, I take hold of his hand and place it flat against my chest, directly above where my heart lies. He pants against my skin, trying to regain his breath after my sudden attack and looks at me questioningly.

"Do you feel that?" I whisper into his ear. He shivers slightly and nods. "My heart only beats like this when I'm with you. It intensifies even further to this incredibly fast pace when I'm close to you; like now. Do you know what that means?" He doesn't move a muscle, just blinks at me, so I continue. "It means that I love you. Which, in turn, means I care about you; a hell of a lot. I don't know when it became this way but I do know that you treating yourself in the way that you do is hurting me." I pull away further and place my hands on his shoulders. "And not just me; Chopper's concern is rightly placed. He's scared for you, Sanji. Not because he's involved but because you won't let him be involved. You won't let him help you."

"But he does help me…"

"No, he patches you up. You only let him do that so that you're able to go back out and continue fighting. Alone. And that's not okay. So long as you keep going on like this you're just going to get hurt."

"But it _is_ okay because you didn't get hurt."

Grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt I pull him up and glare him down. How can he say that's okay? How is that okay?! What's so okay about it?! How could he have fallen into such a frame of mind?

"Stop making excuses you fucker! It's not okay! It will never be okay!"

"But, Zoro, I…"

"I just told you to fucking stop! Why don't you value your fucking life more?!" The blonde turns pale in my hold. He looks at me, extensively, trying to take in all that I've just said. I mean it. At the end of the day, that's what it boils down to; he doesn't understand the value of his own life. He doesn't understand how important he is to others and how damaging his lack of self-concern is on those who care for him. Fuck, it's as if he doesn't believe that anyone else actually cares for him. I know I'm being harsh but I've reached the end of my tether. "Lean on me."

I'm still tingling with rage. My head feels tight as I restrain the painful urge to smack him. Sighing deeply I release my grip on the stunned cook, allowing him to fall back against the sofa. I pinch the bridge of my nose and think about how I can make myself clearer to this block head. Shit, this is giving me such a headache. I actually consider hitting him as a last resort but, to my surprise, it becomes apparent that's no longer necessary. Sanji wraps his arms around me tightly, repeatedly mumbling apologies, and buries his head in my shoulder. He shakes against me; not crying but close to it. I return his embrace with a sigh.

"Didn't I tell you that you mumble too much?" I half laugh.

"Yeah, and you sigh too much, bastard." He snaps. I laugh properly this time. That's true, but it's his fault. Squeezing him firmly, I hold in another sigh.

"I'm not telling you that you shouldn't fight Mihawk anymore. I'm just saying that you won't be doing it alone from here on out." I think I hear a thank you mumbled against my arm. I tilt my head to rest it against his. "You drive me crazy." I sigh.

"I'm sorry." I roll my eyes, and then squeeze him tighter.

"I never said that was a bad thing…"

TBC

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Well... that explains that. Thank you Chopper for that very enciteful explanation... But let me tell you, it's only just getting started. I really enjoy hearing what you guys think of things going on in this fic. It's interesting and i'm always interested in hearing what you think. Thank you for reading this far in. Hope you stay interested and keep reading! *huuuuuuuugs!*

Sneak at what's to come: More characters make their first appearance. The plot thickens. They maybe go all the way...?

If you didn't know already from my profile; I'll be updating every Sunday (UK time) from here on out. I know that's less often than I used to update but it's more regular and easier for me to keep up with. Sorrryyyyyy! XI

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

* * *

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Everything is under controll

So I left the Baratie a while ago now, once I made sure Sanji was going to follow Copper's orders and stay away from anything strenuous, and am now heading towards a part of town I rarely come to. Yet, it's one of the few places that I never get lost in. It's so close to the upper class area (where Sanji lives) but it's still so different. In this part of town are a few small shops, a barbers and a chemist. But it's mainly flats and shady alleyways. I make my way along the grubby pathways and cross broken roads. I always struggle to contemplate how two of the happiest and bubbliest guys I know can live in such a place. And then I reach the house that stands out.

I'm serious. I've never seen a house not fit an area so much. It's like a manor; surrounded by half a mile of land that's basically a mini forest. And it would look almost majestic and sophisticated if half of said forest weren't burnt, broken or calved into some way or another. The D brothers have an obsession with fighting and consequentially; destroying things. Luffy's inhumanly strong and incomprehensibly elastic (if that's even possible?) , you wouldn't guess from looking at him, and Ace is probably the first person to turn fire breathing into an actual way to fight. It's almost fascinating to watch them battle it out once or twice, but they fight all the time. So it gets boring. They're brotherly rivals, so, I guess it's to be expected. And, since their dad is pretty much always on tour, they have free reign of the house.

I reach the huge steel gates keeping the harshness of the world that surrounds the monstrosity of a house out and press in the six figure code to unlock them. I've been here enough times that I picked it up. Luffy and Ace have just accepted that I know it. As they open enough for someone to slip in, I walk through and pinch in the pin on the other side to make them close again. Thinking about it, I never actually thought of Luffy and Ace as spoilt rich kids, because of how normal they are, but I guess they are; more so than Sanji, at least. He helps his adoptive father with his work and lives in comfort, not luxury. Whereas, Luffy and Ace couldn't care less about their father's life as a politician and run rampant in their huge manor home. Yet, I assumed Sanji was going to be the bratty one. I mean, Luffy and Ace aren't brats or anything like that but, they're less appreciative of what they have.

Moving on, I walk through the destroyed forest (eco-friendly hippies would weep) and sigh when I hear a yell getting steadily closer.

"Zoroooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Luffy launches himself towards me. I side step to avoid a head butt to the ribs and laugh as the retard falls to the floor with an angry pout on his face.

"Well, what were you expecting idiot! You didn't exactly sneak up on me and I wasn't going to _let_ you catapult yourself into my gut." Luffy picks himself up off the floor and shakes himself off. Still looking pissed from not knocking me over, he mumbles irritably;

"So what brings you over, if you don't want to fight?" When do I ever come over to fight? Idiot.

"Is Ace home?" I ask.

"Yeah, he's in his room. He doesn't want to fight either; too busy reading up on fire breathing techniques." Luffy makes a face as if to say 'boo! Boring'

"Kay." I continue walking towards the house. Luffy follows.

"So watcha' want Ace for?"

"To talk." I shrug.

"What about?"

"None of your business." Luffy stops dead on the path for a moment, I turn to see him staring intensely, cross eyed, with his lips firmly pouted and his forehead scrunched determinedly. That's his thinking face. I wait for a bit; it's rare to see Luffy thinking (the funny and yet sad thing is; I'm not even kidding). Suddenly, his eyes go wide; he looks up at me and tilts his head.

"Is it about Sanji?" I freeze.

How the hell did he manage to figure that out? Usually Luffy's brain can only go so far as 'Oh, so it's a mystery conversation!' or something else ridiculous. Yet, here we are and he's hit the nail directly on the head.

"Why the fuck would it be about that idiot?" I spit. I brush his question aside and continue walking.

"Ah! So it _is_ about Sanji!" Luffy runs up beside me and walks with me.

"Didn't I just say that it wasn't? What part of my sentence told you otherwise?"

"I didn't listen to what you said; I was reading your facial expressions. When I said Sanji, you blushed!" He grins, pleased with his self, like he's figured it all out… "I know you, Ace and everyone else think I never understand what's going on… but you're wrong." I turn to him with an eyebrow raised. He ignores my questioning look and continues walking in silence.

We reach the huge front door and I go to open it when a hand grips firmly onto my arm and stops me.

"I know you like Sanji in _that_ way."

My mouth drops open in astonishment. Of all people, I never expected Luffy to figure it out so easily. Could it have been…?

"Did Ace tell you that crap?" I ask.

"Nope." Luffy shakes his head. Well, that was unlikely since I haven't directly told him either. I rub the back of my neck. I must have gotten really rusty at hiding my emotions. Luffy tilts his head at me as I consider whether or not to include him in what's going on. "You do like him, right?" I hesitate to answer, but I figure Luffy deserves the honest truth. Besides, I trust him and I've already openly admitted it to Sanji himself so it's not like it's a secret.

"Yeah." I confess. Luffy beams like he just unlocked a treasure chest filled with gold.

"And Sanji likes you too, I'm sure of it!" He assures me. I sigh.

"Yeah..."

"So then there isn't a problem!" Luffy beams. I smile at his innocence.

"If only it were that simple…" I mumble.

Luffy tags along to Ace's bedroom, with the clear intent of being a part of the conversation and being in-the-know of the situation. On the way I come clean and ask something that's been bugging me since Luffy told me he'd figured it out. I'd never really thought about it but, being gay, it's not really something I've ever talked about with anyone. I've only ever once told Ace, when we were both completely pissed at the world and just telling each other everything and anything, for the hell of it. He told me he was bi and that he hated his father for abandoning him and Luffy and getting involved with the Yakuza when he had two small children at home to look after. I told him I was gay and the story of Kuina and the true nature behind my dream. That's why Ace knows so much about me; that one conversation… Since then, he's never really questioned it and I've never questioned him.

Luffy however, well, I'm not entirely sure. He figured it all out on his own and I'm not sure if he knows about Ace or not. Ace accepted me straight away and though I don't doubt Luffy… I have to ask…

"So… You don't think it's weird? Me liking a guy and all?" I ask quietly. I want my voice to exit my mouth in a tone that reads 'it's no big deal, I was just wondering', but instead it leaves nervous, unsure and fearful. Luffy spins on his heels to face me, still walking (backwards), he smiles his ever goofy smile.

"Why would I? Ace is the same, kind of. And I still love him! Besides, you guys are my friends and I want you to be happy!" I smile thankfully. I guess I'm not really relieved; I knew Luffy wouldn't judge me. He's too good a guy and that has nothing to do with him being ignorant or childish. It's just really… nice to hear it.

I'm envious of Luffy. He's able to say such things like they're the most casual thing in the world; without a stutter or pause. He always knows just what to say.

Once in the room, I greet Ace and begin to tell them both the extent of my liking for Sanji…

"I know." Ace smiles. I blink at him. God, these guys know everything, I swear. I don't think I even need to explain anything… "Man, I really missed out on this one. Sweet looks, hot body, attractive personality; he's really got the full package. I'm truly jealous, Zoro. Honestly." I scowl at him but I'm secretly glad that I've been so easy to read this whole time. If I hadn't been then Ace would surely have scooped him up for his self. "But hell, you'd have to be blind not to notice the positive effect he's had on you."

"What do you mean?" Ace looks at me as if to say 'are you serious?', I shrug.

"You just seem happier, more concentrated; though, it's not hard for you to be more focused than you usually were. I mean, you used to just sleep all day. But now, you seem to be taking more in; thinking more. You've even spent time with us outside of school for the first time in forever." Luffy nods in agreement. "I _never_ stood a fucking chance."

I guess they're right in a way. I have been thinking a lot more recently. I've actually got something other than 'I need to win, I need to become the best' to think about for a change. And yeah, I suppose I have been happier and more involved. Not to sound like a cheesy romantic novelist, but I'm in love. So, I guess I'm bound to act a bit nutty.

"So what's the problem then?" Ace asks; his mood suddenly going from joking to deadly serious, yet again. That's right; Ace would instantly be able to realise I didn't come all the way here to swoon over Sanji with him like a fucking school girl. I came here for a reason.

"Sanji's in some major shit right now and I want to help him."

"What kind of shit?" Ace enquires. I bite my lip and frown.

"The Yakuza." Ace and Luffy lean back in surprise; both wide eyed with jaws ajar.

"He's in the _yakuza_?" Ace grits his teeth; the hatred ringing clearly in his voice. "No, no! He's not a member of it! I swear! He's opposing them and they want to kill him for it." I quickly point out. Luffy and Ace relax a little bit.

I know why they were so startled and irritated; as they had once told me, their father got involved with the Yakuza when Luffy and Ace were very young. Properly involved; he was one of their highest authorities once upon a time. However, at this time, the government tried to take action against the Yakuza and the situation almost resulted in them burning alive. It's not like I didn't believe them but I'd always had this voice in the back of my head telling me that the Yakuza part was an exaggeration. Of course, I've seen them now and met them.

After a shared concerned look with his brother, Ace swallows.

"So, how is he involved?" Ace inquires. I frown.

"It's complicated…"

I explain to them what Sanji told me; about how the Yakuza want an overall influence and control of the city for unknown reasons. I explain about his father's restaurant and how he's willing to protect it from everyone and everything with his life. They sit quietly through all of that and only stir when I mention that I know who the head of the Yakuza is.

"Mihawk?! You've met him?" Ace asks, astonished.

"You knew he was the head of the Yakuza?" I quiz.

"Well, let's just say we're very familiar with the yakuza; more so than you think." Ace states slowly. Ace catches how awkward that statement makes me and stirs the conversation back round. "So, what can we do? Sanji can't keep fighting them on his own forever. If he continues he'll surely be killed."

I sigh.

"I know, but he won't be from now on. It took a while but I finally got the idiot to let me help him. Although I'm not exactly making much of a difference so far, I'm going to make sure that his problems with Mihawk end."

"How do you plan on doing that? Even with your strength; you can't take on the whole Yakuza." Ace asks. I pause, I'm honestly not sure. I lower my eyes and my hand twitches; itching to reach up and touch my scar. I refrain from doing so as to not lose the subject of the topic.

Luffy jumps from his sitting place on Ace's bed.

"Well I'll help! This Mihawk is hurting my friends; so I'll make him pay!" Luffy growls.

"I'm in too." Ace agrees. I blink at them.

"In what? Guys, we don't even have any plan and we're up against the freaking Yakuza. The _yakuza_. This isn't a joke. We need to at least think things through." Luffy and Ace look at me like I just slit my own throat right before them; a mixture of shock and horror, their faces turning pale. I think for a moment that I was too blunt and that I've offended them. No, that'd be the normal turn of events…

"Zoro's thinking about the consequences of his actions!" Ace yells.

"Is there a plaque in the air?"

"It's plague, Luffy…" Ace snorts.

"That too!" He laughs. Are you freaking kidding me? They cover their mouths and noses in a mocking gesture and hoot from beneath their hands. I scowl at them.

"Shut the fuck up!" I demand. This, however, only seems to heighten their enjoyment. Ace laughs almost enough to fall off his chair and Luffy's just dancing like a moron pretending to 'protect himself from the plague'. I let them laugh themselves out; no freaking point in arguing with two thick bricks.

When they finally finish, Luffy pulls on his thinking face again. Twice in one day… maybe there really _is_ a plague going round.

"We could try Nami and Robin." Luffy suggests cautiously; taking care with his wording, like it's a sensitive topic. Ace considers the idea for a while;

"Do you think they would agree?"

"I trust em'. Nami will agree; she'd never let me down." His face lights up. I smirk. I've never met this Nami; but I've heard so much about her. When the idiot starts talking about her, he can't stop. She means a lot to Luffy; from his behaviour it's obvious he is _very_ fond of her and from what Ace has told me it's pretty clear she's _very_ fond of him too. I don't know what Luffy means by 'I trust em'. He could mean Robin and Nami; however it's more likely he means me and Sanji… He runs off to contact her leaving me and Ace grinning together.

He smiles at me questioningly.

"I've never seen you so concerned over someone before." He muses. I shrug.

"I'm not concerned… I'm just…" I can't find the right word…

"Concerned…" Ace smirks.

"No, it's not that. I mean, he's just kind of stuck in that situation and, instead of seeking help from someone, he's doing all he can to keep others out of it. The idiot tried to protect me. _Me_, Ace. I'm not someone that needs protecting; yet he did it. I'm worried that he'll go too far."

"That's the same thing as being concerned." Ace tilts his head. "But I get what you mean."

"I fucking love him Ace."

"I know. Don't worry; Sanji is our friend too and the yakuza have been a problem for all of us." He scratches his brow and continues. "I'm going to tell you something that must, under all circumstances, be kept entirely secret. Do you swear your life to the secret?" Ace stares at me intensely. I nod, cautiously.

"My life…" I swear.

"Robin and Nami will kill me when they find out I've told you but I just feel like you need to know." He sighs. I sit up intensely; interested.

"All of us have scores to settle with the Yakuza. Robin, Nami, Luffy and I… as well as a few others; we now have you and Sanji. All of us have our own personal history with individual members of the Yakuza; however, none of us more so than you two. With our research we managed to learn that Mihawk was the head of the Yakuza, but none of us has ever seen him in person. Let alone talk to him. As a unit, we've been working on a plan for a while now. Planning and organising has been going on for years. Their growth in power is something we must stop at all costs. That's what we're working on at least. You and Sanji would be brilliant assets. Robin will be delighted if, once we've told you all the details, you decide that you want to be a part of our plan." He pauses. "However, this is where it gets serious… Zoro, for you to be a part of this you have to be willing to give everything for Sanji. He's clearly already willing to do that for you but… what we do will mean you going against the biggest Mafia organisation in modern history; maybe even the government itself. If our plans succeed, all of us will need to disappear; become different people. Run from the Law _and_ the criminal underworld."

"What are you guys planning to do, exactly?" Ace smiles at me; a glint of sinister excitement shining from his dark eyes.

"The impossible..."

"Which is?"

"Take down… the Yakuza." I smile with him.

"Sounds fun." He raises an eyebrow at me with a smirk.

"You in?"

"I'm in."

An excited Luffy bursts back into the room in an explosion of excited hoots and cheers.

"They want to meet you two on Tuesday!" He beams. Ace nods like he knew Luffy was going to say something along those lines.

"No regrets..." He looks at me sternly.

"No regrets." I agree.

TBC

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

* * *

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Understanding

"They want to meet us tomorrow?" A surprised Sanji looks at me in disbelief. After explaining the events of the previous afternoon, we're standing in the corridor; apparently confirming what I just said. I nod at him blankly. "Just like that?" I give him a look as to say 'I don't fucking know their reasoning behind trusting us, okay. For all we know, they still don't.' He catches my drift and considers the situation for a moment. "Do we go?" That question… I'd been contemplating it all evening, night and morning. I know what this will entail and I realise the monumental risks behind going through with it…

"Yeah, we go." I don't elaborate. I can't explain why this is my final decision; I just know that we need to go. Nothing will improve if we keep things the way they are. We need help and who better to seek it from than two of my closest, and only, friends and the people they trust?

He nods in understanding and looks down silently. He scratches lightly at his forehead under his bangs. He's not wearing all the bandages anymore; Chopper gave him some plaster-like ones to wear whilst at school and, under his hair, it's barely noticeable. You would only see it if you knew it was there in the first place. As he scratches I see his eye twitch; I can tell that he thinks that wasn't noticeable, but I saw it. It's still hurting him. He's taken pain killers, but he's still in discomfort…

"Does it still hurt?" I ask, knowing full well that it does but asking anyway.

"Of course not, don't be stupid." I sigh loudly at his stupidity and he pouts at my disbelief.

The first bell rings and the people around us quickly disperse to their form rooms. It doesn't take long for the halls vacate, leaving us alone with our silent thoughts.

"Hey, Zoro." Sanji starts slowly. "I understand that everyone else involved has their own reasons for taking the risk, their own personal grudges against Mihawk. I have the Baratie to protect and the others probably just want something along the lines of revenge… but what about you?"

"What _about_ me?" I ask, looking at him from the corner of my eye.

"Well, you haven't talked about yourself that much… why are you taking the risk?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Idiot, Would I have asked if it was?"

"Probably." I smirk. He blushes slightly in embarrassment.

"Fucker, just answer me already."

I look around and confirm that the corridors are empty. Luckily (and conveniently), one of my favourite blind spots in the school is just around the corner (I go there to take naps and avoid class). I grab the cook's hand and pull him along with me. Keeping my mouth closed, I tug him along as he questions and cusses; getting increasingly frustrated by my silence. As we reach the spot I turn around, and push him against the wall. Pressing firm against him and shoving our faces together. Though startled at first, he soon loosens up and returns my kiss. We get lost in each other's movements; he only stops me and pulls away when my hands find their way down to his ass.

"Zoro, you moron; we're at school. Stop!" I smirk and squeeze my hands making him quiver against me. "A… and you didn't answer my question…"

"I _am_ answering your question." One of my hands slithers under his shirt and jumper to move smoothly along the indents of his abs. He shudders against the touch. "I'm not going to keep saying this shit cook. It's fucking embarrassing enough already and I hate to repeat myself. So listen carefully; _I_ _love_ _you_. That should be reason enough to explain my actions and answer your question. So don't you dare ask me 'why' ever again."

I look at him, wondering whether or not he finally gets it. He looks kind of sad; I'm not having that. I consume his lips in a deep kiss, allowing him no time to be gloomy. The hand under his shirt caressing its way around to his back and the hand on his butt moving up to hold his slender waist.

"Stop it. Someone might see…" He mumbles as I nip at his ear lobe.

"Let them see."

"You fucking pervert."

"Say what you like, it won't stop me."

I go to kiss him again, when he clamps his lips together to stop me and looks at me in thought.

"What now?" I ask; sounding slightly pissed at the constant interruptions.

"So…" He averts his eyes from me, his face beginning to turn a light shade of rouge. Taking a quick deep breath he continues; "What are we?" He asks quietly. I don't catch his meaning.

"Don't tell me you've lost _your_ memory, shit cook. We're humans." I joke, he scowls at me; his face now bright red.

"No, you asshole! I _mean_… What does this make _us_?" He stresses the 'us' enough that I realise he means our status… relationship status, that is. I begin to blush with him; I hadn't actually thought about that side of it. What _would_ we be considered? I love him, he loves me, we make out and stuff (and I want more…)… Though, neither of us actually asked the other out. Do you have to? Is there some kind of rule behind it?

"I guess… you're my boyfriend?" I ask that more than I directly say it.

"… That sounds strange." He blushes.

"Ha, yeah I guess it does. Am I your first boyfriend, then?" He nods reluctantly, with a pout. "Well, one thing's for _sure_." He looks at me questioningly.

"What's that?" He asks cautiously. Leaning in close so that our lips are almost touching, I whisper;

"You are mine."

"Back at you…" He smiles.

Closing the gap between us, it takes all of my will power to remember that we're at school and I can't go any further than this while we're here. I want to tear his shirt off so badly it's unbearable. But then again, I don't want our first time of getting fully intimate (whilst we're both sober) to be at school… and I especially don't want our _first time _to be here. Besides, even this blind spot wouldn't be safe for that kind of thing. It's only a blind spot from the schools cameras…

The final morning bell rings (students are all expected to be in form by now for registration). Sanji breaks our contact.

"We're late…" He utters breathlessly. I groan in annoyance. "Don't be so childish. Let me go so we can at least get signed in for the day." Begrudgingly, I back away from him and let him quickly slip away from me before I feel the urge to grab him again. It's only at this moment that I remember I'm meant to be somewhere right now…

"You go to form." I wave him off.

"What about you?" He inquires.

"I'm not going; I've got somewhere I need to be…" He raises an eyebrow at me. "A meeting with a teacher." I say flatly.

"Then why are you still here?! Go now!" I watch as he turns and starts half jogging towards the direction of our form room. Before he corners I smirk to myself as I have a thought and shout out;

"Oi, cook! Tuck your shirt in!" If he weren't so far away he'd have kicked me. Giving me a quick scarlet scowl, he turns the corner and heads for form. That's punishment for not letting me continue… I stand there for a while and smile as I think about what I'd said; 'You are mine.' He _is_ mine; my… _boyfriend_. He's right… that does sound slightly strange. It's not like I'm claiming ownership of him; I'm his in the same way.

I place my hands in my pockets and start walking in, what I hope, is the direction of the school's dojo. When I said that I had a meeting with a teacher, I almost wasn't lying. Though I haven't actually organised a meeting with him and he's not really technically my teacher and, when he actually manages to come to school, he scarcely teaches. He's a music teacher who also supervises and coaches the sunny kendo team. I can't guarantee he'll be there but I know he always comes in on Mondays to inspect the equipment and condition of the hall and I'm willing to wait all day. Surprisingly, I find my way to the dojo relatively quickly and easily. When I arrive, it's empty.

I look into the old dojo; the worn bamboo katana in their stands at the side of the hall, the sliding doors leading to two stale, stinking, stifling changing rooms filled with shabby uniforms and protective covering. I wonder how many different people have worn each set of armour and how many sweaty hands have handled each katana. I look to the solo katana sitting in its own stand. It's mine. I knew from a pretty early age that I wanted to master kendo. I got my own bamboo blade and gear. As I got older, I fell deeper in love with the katana; growing more and more eager to wield _real_ katana. I mastered two sword style pretty quickly. I was content with that and didn't actually plan on trying to practice with more… Then Kuina died. It's thanks to her that I use three. When she passed away I took on the weight of her sword and added that to my two. I guess I was thinking something along the lines of 'I wanted her to be a part of my dream'. Since, she _was_ originally part of it too.

I walk over to the katana and place my hand on top of the grip. I think of the many hours I've spent training with this in my hands, the countless times I've scored flawless points on my opponent with its curved tip and blunt blade, the many times I'd had to replace various parts as they had snapped or broken from overstressing the bamboo with my relentless routines. Never failing to hit the target I set it and blocking me from opposing strikes; a loyal sword indeed. The feeling of scoring a point on an opponent and striking them at the perfect angle; an incredible feeling, without a doubt, but nothing in comparison to using a real blade to cut down very real and open opponents. It's not exactly a satisfying feeling but it does give you a light twinge of excitement. As I stare at the slightly tatty grip, a smile begins to creep onto my face. It's almost funny that I never really saw much difference between my real katana and this bamboo one; other than the number of which I could hold and the slicing difference of their blades. They are too different to even begin to describe… far too different.

"Class just won't feel the same anymore, ey brook?" I turn to the man behind me; a tall, extremely skinny man with a long, pale face and a huge, dark afro. He stands there in his classic old fashioned suit; holding that seemingly pointless cane and smiling at me, cheerfully. Brook; my Kendo sensei.

"Yohohoho! How long have you known I was here?" His laugh echoes around the hall almost eerily.

"From the moment you walked in; about a minute ago."

"Sharp! I'll give you that." I turn my attention back to the bamboo katana.

"It won't feel right anymore; holding this thing and wearing all that armour." I look back at the skeleton of a man and he smiles sympathetically.

"I'll bet. How was it? Using a sword in real deathly combat for the first time?" I pause and think back to that day in the alley. Watching those men fall to the ground; beaten and bloody. Seeing their expressionless faces… the blood pooling around them… the instant feeling of knowing they were dead; that I'd killed them.

"It was surreal." I put bluntly.

"Yohohoho!" He leans onto his cane and sighs. "I remember, my first time; first killing, I mean. I couldn't believe what was happening. The blood… Of course, you get used to it eventually."

"Where do you hide your blade?" He shifts his weight and lifts his cane. With a faint click, it slides open revealing a silver blade. The curve handle of the cane is the katanas grip and the rest of the cane body is its sheath. "Clever." I nod in approval.

"Why thank you." He grins and closes his katana back up.

I watch as he replaces his weight on the cane. I look at him… the man who watched over me; my sensei during all my years in the sunny kendo team. Definitely not the man I thought he was.

"How much did Ace and Luffy tell you?" He enquires. I think back to yesterday afternoon. After Ace had made sure I was absolutely certain about risking everything, he decided to drop a major bombshell of information onto my over flowing brain.

"He told me that some of the teachers from this school were originally an opposing mafia gang of the Yakuza. When Mihawk targeted you guys, and almost destroyed you, you fled into hiding. Seeking new lives and a new base you set up the Sunny Academy; a school on the outside, a secure fortress on the inside. I can work out for myself that Franky is a part of all this; as the headmaster, that's a given. He didn't give me the names of the other teachers involved, however, just yours. He said I should talk to you to confirm everything as legitimate."

"Well, here I stand. Blade in hand. Confirmation needed? Authorisation proceeded…" He sings, clearly satisfied with his little rhyme.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" He tilts his head in thought.

"No." He answers justly. "Not unless situations like this were to occur." I expected as much. I wonder…

"Is anything in this school real?"

"Oh, it's a real school alright. Legitimate papers, proper exams governed by the real board of education. We've even got _some _real teachers."

"Can you cut me into the school's history?" He laughs loudly.

"Not so fast, we still need for you to meet with Robin and Nami. Although Robin is the main brains behind the whole operation, Nami is the best judge of character. They must confirm that you two are safe to trust and then induct you with the information that, if leaked, could get you and all of us on a death sentence from the Yakuza _and_ the Government."

"I understand that. What I don't get is why this Robin is in charge of the operation. Surely Franky would be the head?"

"Yohohoho! That he is! But as his wife she is surely capable of keeping the front line in order."

"Franky's married?" I half laugh.

Picturing the overly enthusiastic headmaster as he falls into his signature _suuuuuuuuper_ pose saying his wedding vows, is surely something. Thinking about it, I guess that's a pretty normal thought. For any teenager, picturing your teachers getting married is either fairly amusing or entirely disturbing.

"They married before the group was dispersed… Quite the couple; truly made for each other." He smiles to himself. "That Robin is quite the woman, never once allowing me to see her panties, she has Franky wrapped right around her little finger; poor man. Yohohoho!"

"You and your freaking panty fetish…" I mumble… He laughs again. He'd always had that perverted habit of asking all the female teachers if they would allow him to see their panties. Of course, all said no and, most would slap him for the remark. However, over time it's just something they get used to. Now they just say no and brush him off. It would almost be funny if it weren't annoyingly tedious.

"I'd always admired your strength, Zoro. I know that it's obvious now, but I'm not a real Kendo instructor. Before this school came about I never cared for the sport. I learned the techniques and rules to fill this position when you came in and demanded we have a team. Your eagerness and passion inspired others to join the team; your conviction driving even me to take the sport more seriously… or, more accurately, as seriously as I could; the duties of our… group, still stand. I'm constantly called away for… business and for that I apologise to you and the team." He turns and begins to walk out. "I wish I could have been a teacher from the start… but I guess, you can't change your past or opt out at the last minute in my profession..." With that, he leaves.

I know what he's trying to do. He's doing the same thing everyone I've talked to has tried to do; change my mind. Telling me I won't be able to change what ends up happening and that I can't opt out at the last minute…; Advice. However, his unconvincing tone tells me he knows that won't help change my mind. He knows me well enough to understand that's futile. It doesn't matter what anyone says, I'm not backing down from this.

I take another quick look around the dojo. Knowing that there's probably some kind of defence mechanism hidden somewhere within its walls. It's not a secret that Franky has an obsession with building strange cannons and technological gizmos. The whole school knows. Heck, he even throws competitions twice a year where the students are given the chance to win (_suuuuuuuuper_) prizes by building their best mechanical weapon from scratch. Luffy and Ussop always team up and, if their weapon didn't end up blow up in their faces, they would almost undoubtedly win. The prizes were usually something random. I remember once it was just a tonne of meat; of which, Luffy went mad over and ate the moment he won it (Usopp let him have that one, said he enjoyed building the machines more than the winning).

But we'd always assumed that was just a weird hobby. An obsession he'd clung to since childhood or something… Never that it was linked to him being a mafia boss…

As I wonder about that, the faces of all my other teachers pop into my head and my thoughts drift to who else may be involved; which of them are real teachers and who is just part of a major conspiracy… Shit. You always wonder if your teacher has a life behind the whiteboard, but you never expect it to be as complicated as this…

Things are truly weird and that _does_ make me a little apprehensive about what's to come… on the other hand; I'd trade all of normality for that idiot cook who stole my heart… and has twisted it so fucking much that I'm starting to talk poetically like a fucking sap…

TBC

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

* * *

Yeah, brook is human. The world this fic is set in is completely human. No superpowers. No devil fruits. No magic and no supernatural stuff.

And yeah, this has Frobin. I ship them too, sorry if you don't ship them But there wont be much other than the vague reference here and there.

Next chapter will be next sunday. UK time.

Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'd love to hear your comments on the story so far. Don't be strangers~

Thanks for reading this far in. I love you guys~

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	14. Chapter 14

Okay, before I get grief, I'm sorry I missed last week's update. I wont give you the full sob story i'll just sum it up in one hell bound, miserable, platonic word; school. Speaks for itself, doesn't it? So, anyway, here's this week's update. Sorry again.

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Chapter 14 not going as planned…

_This chapter is from Sanji's perspective…_

My heart is beating a mile a minute… My lips are tingling from the recent contact and the places he touched me are still hot. I really don't want to return to form. I want to run back to Zoro and continue where we left off but… I just don't want anyone to become suspicious. Not because I'm ashamed or any shit like that, I just don't want anyone prying into my life out of curiosity or gossip. But honestly, although it was a surprise attack, I was really getting into it. Zoro knows just how and where to touch me to make me shiver and I have yet to show just how good I can make him feel. Our time together and all that we've confessed as of recent; it's almost too amazing to be true… Zoro called me his boyfriend… The word still leaves a flutter in the pit of my stomach and it makes me feel so light. On the other hand it also frustrates me; it wasn't meant to go like this… I had a plan. A plan that I was dead set on following.

I was going to meet Zoro and slyly check on his health by challenging him to a small duel. But he got my blood boiling and I ended up fighting him with all I had; leaving me tingling with excitement and a longing for further spars.

Then I had planned to watch on from a distance and _keep_ my distance, not getting involved in his life and keeping him safely away from mine. But he spurred my curiosity too far and I ended up becoming attached to both him and the others…

I was then going to work out whether or not he remembered anything; if yes, I would thank him and ask him politely to erase it from his mind. But I longed for him to remember me and when he didn't; I began to forget the benefits of his lack of memory, selfishly wishing for him to recall my face…

After that I was going to drop out of the school again and return to my old life, putting all thoughts of the school and the marimo out of my mind for good… But then I fell in love with seeing their smiling faces every day and the glow they emitted when they ate my food… and then, to seal the deal, _he_ stole my heart…

That certainly put my plan out of motion.

That shitty green bastard with his sarcasm and perverted nature… he fucking stole my heart. It's not fair… Whenever I saw him stare at me from the corner of my eye, something would begin to burn inside of me. I would see those lustful eyes and almost melt. I began to want him. I couldn't be sure if I was completely and utterly mistaken and getting the wrong idea but I just couldn't help but fall for him. He is muscular, handsome and mysterious looking…; utterly irresistible. Not to mention strong and quick tongued. It was involuntary… but it happened. I fell in love.

Now sitting in class, I begin to run the events of the past few months over in my mind. From the time I saw him, slicked in a sheath of sweat, in the dojo to just now as he pressed me against the wall. The sensations that run through me… it's all so amazing, and I'm so terrible a person that there's no way I can bare to lose that. I'm so selfish. I've gotten him dragged into all of this and, no matter what he says or how much he protests, it's my fault. I should have backed off… I should have told them all to stay away… all of them.

I move from lesson to lesson like a zombie. Responding to whatever I have to automatically, like I'm on auto pilot. But, the whole time my mind is elsewhere. Zoro wasn't in any of the classes I had today, and he wasn't at the bench during break or lunchtime but my thoughts are still purely pinned on him. Blissful dreams of that toned and firm body pressed close against mine… are rudely interrupted by a loud yell from an overly enthusiastic moron.

"Shishishishishi! You're all zoned out Sanji!" He laughs loudly, ignoring the feeble attempts of our teacher to shut him up.

"I wasn't zoned out, I was thinking."

"Bout' what?" He sits on top of my desk lazily and looks at me with interest.

"None of your shitty business." I flick him on the forehead and he pouts, disappointed. Our teacher has given up in trying to get him to sit back down, and has returned to the rest of the class who, all too familiar with Luffy's antics, continue the lesson like we're not even here.

The bell rings clear through the halls and, before you can even register that you just herd the bell, Luffy's standing on the desk yelling loudly into the air. I smirk as the teacher meekly begs Luffy to step down from the desk. I kind of feel sorry for the teachers having to deal with all the crazy kids that go to this school but then again, there are some pretty strict teachers here that can handle them just fine…

I'm barely able to pack my things back into my bag when Luffy grabs me by the arm and pulls me out the class room door, yelling 'Yahoooooooooo!'. Yanking me through the, still empty, halls I make myself airborne and send my right leg smashing into the back of the idiot's head; sending him flying across the hall. Furious at the sudden pulling and dragging I straiten myself up and scowl at him. I know he didn't mean to, but my forehead is throbbing violently making me slightly woozy. It takes some effort but, I manage to keep my composure and yell at him convincingly.

"Idiot. Don't just pull me like that!" I rage as I fully close my bag and throw it over my shoulder.

"Eh? I just wanted to get out of that boring class room!" He whines. He quickly springs to his feet and smiles with that idiotic grin of his. I can't help but give a slight grin. His overly energetic being is a pain in the ass sometimes but it's admittedly fun. The throbbing in my head settles down and I sigh with a smile.

"Idiot."

As the halls begin to fill up, with students either eager to get home or lumping to an afterschool revision lesson or club, we meet up with Ace and Ussop who laugh at Luffy's antics. Once we're off school grounds we all stop and suddenly the joking stops. All three of them look at me with a strict look in their eyes.

"Have you decided?" Ace asks me. Taken back from the sudden shift in atmosphere, I nod slowly and with caution. Luffy and Usopp seem to relax at my answer.

"W… wait a second… Usopp, you're in on this too?" I look at him in confusion. He looks back at me and smirks. Standing tall and pushing out his chest, in an attempt to look manlier, he proudly tells me about his 'role' in this operation.

"Well, of course I am! Who do you think leads this entire thing? That's right! Me! Captain Ussop the great and sneaky mafia boss!" His bull shit is silenced by a fist sending him smashing into the ground; Luffy's fist.

"Sneaky, Usopp! That's not being sneaky!" Luffy hisses at him. Ace rolls his eyes at the scene and answers my unanswered question of 'So what's the real reason that he's in on this?';

"The yakuza are threatening the life of his girlfriend." Ace says calmly.

As he says this, Usopp jumps to his feet and brushes himself off with an annoyed pout on his face.

"I'm not strong enough to protect Kaya on my own…" He admits it like he's been defeated. I can tell that it's painful for him to honestly say that he can't protect the ones he loves by himself. I'm sure I'd feel exactly the same if Mihawk managed to get past me and get his filthy hands on the Baratie… I give him my sympathy and understanding. "But um, I was also recruited into the project because of my pyrotechnics." He laughs awkwardly, trying to cover up how hurt he is from having to pronounce those words.

"I bet." I give him as much of a smile as I can and he looks at me thankfully, knowing I understand.

Nothing more is said on the topic as, apparently, Zoro and I aren't allowed to know anything more than the basics until Nami and Robin have deemed us as trustworthy.

"Oh." I start in realisation. "Speaking of not knowing much, has anyone seen Zoro?" I ask the group. All shake their head or shrug and look at each other.

"Not since this morning when you guys left for a 'talk'." Ace winks at me and I can only pray that my face hasn't lit up in memory of what we did.

"Yeah, well we did talk and then he left because he had to meet a teacher or something…" I rack my brain in thought… I have absolutely no idea who he could be meeting. I've never seen Zoro even talk to teachers and he'd always seemed like the kind to keep out of their way so as to avoid their attention. I don't know who he could have meant…

I part from my friends soon after. None of us with any idea where the marimo has been all day or where he is now. Shitty bastard; how could he do things like that and then leave me… I wanted to see him again… Well, I have the Baratie to busy myself with anyway. Zeff returned late last night, as flustered and furious as ever. He always returns that way whenever he gets back from of those meetings; Always so stressed… I bet they're not good for his health. He caught sight of my wound, though I had already changed into the less obvious bandages, and angrily questioned me on it. I told him we had all had a bit too much to drink and I had fallen and hit my head on the table in the living room. He begrudgingly believed me and banned me from alcohol until I learn how to hold my liquor. I laughed it off the best that I could but I know he knows I'm lying… yet he still goes along with my fabrications.

I'm running a shift this afternoon. I want to get into that routine again. These past few days have been strange and awkward. So much has happened and I have not been able to work off my awkwardness or fall into a soothing and familiar pattern. I'm so used to being able to work all day and then just sleep off the work or enter into battle with Mihawk's thugs at night. I got so used to it… then Zoro came into my life. That eccentric and peculiarly alluring green buzz of what is either moss or hair, those strong and defined muscles from his hours of training and working out, that deep throaty voice… He completely changed my life.

All of a sudden, I have this resisting yet enthralling force working for me and against me. I both hate it and welcome it. My feelings are so conflicted it's fucking infuriating.

I'm welcomed back at the restaurant with the same insults and sarcastic comments, of which I have my own comebacks and snarky remarks to return with. I've known the guys who work here from the very beginning. A few joined a bit later but they soon picked up the drift of how the Baratie is run. The chef's and waiters don't take any shit from the customers and won't hesitate to kick you out on your ass. That's partly what made this place so famous; that and the food, of course. Its five stars and you can expect nothing less. Nobody ever complains about the quality. It just doesn't happen; Zeff and I always check the quality of the other chef's cooking and let nothing less than perfect set a course for our customers.

In the middle of working on a stew I receive a firm kick to the back of my shin and turn around to see the shitty geezer leering at me angrily. I spit in pain and go to kick him back, he dodges.

"What? Shitty geezer?" I yell.

"I don't want an injured fool in my kitchen." He grunts; his arms crossed across his chest. That gets a few looks from the other chef's.

"I'm not injured. I'm fine, I can work." I go to grasp the huge ladle in the stew I was working on when he smacks my hand away from it, drawing more attention from the men working around us.

"No. I don't want you working." He states emotionlessly.

"What, so suddenly I'm not good enough to work here?"

"You're injured." He argues.

"Chopper said I was fine." I lie.

"You're a terrible liar. I know Chopper and he would have told you not to work." I swallow as I remember the small, adorable, doctor telling me that was out of the question for at least a week. He'd go mental if he knew I was working already. I think of arguing back but as soon as I go to open my mouth Zeff cuts over me. "You can't work while you're injured. I won't allow it. The food will be shitty if an injured fool is cooking it. Go hang out with one of your admittedly real friends. Surely there's something else you want to do. So get out and do it. For this week I won't allow you to even assist in the work here. That's final." He tears off my apron from around my neck and begins shoving me out the side door.

"But I…" I begin to protest but he gives me a final shove and I fall out of the door, almost tripping on the step.

"Out." He demands. "Call me if you're going to be late you damn eggplant."

I stand there for a moment in confusion. Usually, he criticises me on not working enough. Yet, now he's pushing me out the door and banning me from work… is that his attempt at caring? I light a smoke and take a long drag as I consider the lightly amusing thought; the old geezer trying to be compassionate because I'm injured? Ha…

Placing my hands in my pockets and slowly walking away from the restaurant, I think about where I could go. The words of the geezer echo in the back of my mind; 'surely there's something else you want to do.' I think about that. Something I want to do? What do I want? I wanted to work but that's seemingly out of the question. What else do I want? I want… taking out my phone I go through the contacts and look for the newly added and still uncalled numbers. I can't phone directly… I press the green telephone image when the number I need is highlighted and press the mobile against my ear. It rings, and is quickly answered.

"Hello?" the voice on the other side answers.

"Ace, it's Sanji."

"Yo! Sanji! Was wondering when you were finally going to use the number I gave you a while back."

"Yeah, sorry."

"So, what's up then? Thought you said you had work?"

"I did, but the geezer won't let me work, because I'm injured or some shit like that." I hear Ace laugh through the line.

"So what then; you bored? Want to hang out?" He asks casually.

"Well…" I begin. My heart begins to thump loudly inside my chest. As I reach the edge of the road in front of the Baratie I pause and take a breath as I ask; "I was wondering if you knew the address of somewhere and if yes, if you could relay it to me…"

"Sure thing, if I know it you can have it. So, where you want to go?"

I think through what will happen if I ask. If I don't ask then I won't get what I want but if I do ask and I change my mind then I'll already know and I won't be able to stop my curiosity… I don't see too many disadvantages of going. I want to go, I want to see…

"Do you know where Zoro's dojo is?" A slight pause from the other side…

"Yeah, of course. Hey, better than me tell it to you, I'll text it so that you can't forget it." I can literally hear him smiling through the phone.

"Thanks."

"No problem. See you tomorrow; big day. Oh and Sanji, remember to use those slender hips of yours to…" _Beep_; Disconnected.

Moments later, my phone screen lights up and vibrates in my hand; alerting me that I have received a message. I open the text and see the address, clearly written, with a sideways wink face ;) at the end.

I ignore the little remark and stare at the address. It's only about a half hour walk from here. A chill of excitement begins to buzz through me. My feet begin to move in the direction of the address, Zoro's dojo, and I begin to mentally plot out the route to my new destination. I wonder about a certain moss head and whether or not he actually plans out his routes before he begins them or if he just follows his feet… Zoro… My pulse begins to race. I don't know what I'll do or say when I get there… I mean, I don't even know if he'll be there right now but… I know what I want… Putting out my cigarette on a wall of a tall grey building as I walk, and replacing my hands in my pockets, a smile begins to creep upon my face and the nervousness is taken over by a rush of eagerness… I know what I want.

I want to see him.

I want to see Zoro…

I want to be with Zoro…

TBC

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Okay, so to start with, how did you like the switched perspective? I like to switch perspectives; you get a whole other side to the story and thus a whole new area to explore with in writing.

Secondly, thank you again for reading this far in. I hope i'm not boring you with this mass of chapters... my simple original plot just exploded... XD

Normal update next week and then after that is a little treat for those who like a little more smut in their fanfics~ Stay tuned!

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

* * *

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 - Just visiting?

It's that time of the year again. When Kushiro and I usually set out to visit a tournament and compete both in a team and separately. However, this year, I decided to opt out of the competition and stay to run the dojo. Sensei was confused when I informed him of my decision but I made it clear that my mind could not be shifted. I decided upon this because if I go then I won't be back for two days and I'll miss my meeting with Nami and Robin; this shit is just getting started, I don't want to fuck things up already. I also don't want to leave Sanji. The idiot's only just beginning to open up and allow others to support him and get close to him; I don't want to fuck that up either.

Kushiro looked at me questioningly when I gave him my excuse of 'I don't feel ready for such a tournament at the moment. I need to train and become stronger before I compete again'. He was disappointed but agreed nonetheless, stating that he would, instead, focus on the older students competing and team up with his old sparring partners. Of whom, had offered for this very competition to partner with him if he so chose too. Kushiro is quite famous; sometimes I forget because I've grown up with him and he's practically my father… and I respect him so much already that fame can't make me look up to him any more than I already do.

I left school early. Not for any particular reason, just because I couldn't deal with being around all the conspiracy and lies for a whole day… well I guess that actually is a reason. I should have probably told one of the guys I was leaving but I just couldn't find my way to their class rooms… So, I eventually found my way to the front office and told them I was ill or some shit like that. They let me go without argument; they know that I go home when I want and that I'd only force my way out if they tried to stop me. It was then, on my way home I remembered the competition and decided that I wasn't going.

Of course, my staying means that I will have to take the evening classes. We usually get a replacement to come in and cover for us, like a substitute teacher, but since I'm going to be here (and because 'I need the training') Kushiro cancels them and hands over the keys to the dojo to me. The teens competing arrive at the dojo before the lesson starts, with their small suitcases and bamboo katanas at hand, and leave in the mini-bus with Kushiro shortly after. I've taken plenty of lessons before so it'll be plane sailing.

The students arrive and, as expected, it's mainly just brats and a few teens that aren't competing. That's fine. When they enter the dojo and see me standing there waiting for them they all swallow and take a deep breath. It's funny because I know why they're reacting that way. They know I'm less compromising to mistakes and far more religious when it comes to fitness. I'm not cruel; I don't overwork them beyond their physical limits and I'd never push them to a state where they could injure themselves or strain something. I just make them put their all into it. They enjoy it, even though it's a lot of work and, admittedly, I enjoy it too. It's fun… almost.

I have this thing in place to encourage the brats to train harder than they usually would; if they train well, I give into their winey pleas and show them a move of my Santoryu. They freaking love it. Sensei would kill me if he knew I was using real blades around the brats but they seem to enjoy it and it's my best method of keeping them in line. Besides, it gives them something to aspire to; holding real blades…

It's nearing the end of the lesson and, on cue, the nagging begins.

"Zoro-sensei, can you show us a move now?" A young buzz-cut boy asks excitedly.

"I don't know, can I? Have you trained hard enough?" I raise an eyebrow and ask the question openly to the entire class. They younger kids erupt into a fury of 'yes we have! We trained our best!' and 'please, we trained hard!' I smirk, along with the teens and hush the brats down. One of the teens takes off his head guard and spits out his gum shield.

"Go on then, sensei. Show us what we worked for." I look at the brats; they really do work significantly harder just to see one of my techniques. Sweat is dripping from their brows and their eyes are lit with anticipation, even the teens look highly interested and expectant. I push them all to the back of the hall and go to the side of the dojo to pick up my katanas. I place the sheaths on the ground and return to the centre of the cleared hall with my swords ready.

I place one in my mouth… and focus. I close my eye and envision the slice of the blades in my mind. Mentally, I reduce the size of the slash and once the pressure begins to build, I move; my feet and body automatically falling into a natural stance and wrists moving instinctively; controlled purely by muscle memory as my mind focuses on my blades.

As my technique ends, I return to a neutral stance and take the katana from my mouth. A few ah's and wow's and a round of applause follow. Of which I put an end to when I return from re-sheathing my swords. I instruct the class to pack away, and after making sure all equipment is safely returned to the cupboards, I commend the class on their effort for the lesson and dismiss them. As they wave goodbyes and call 'thank you' behind them as they walk through the doors, I seriously start to believe I must be majorly dehydrated because I can't believe my eyes; a certain blonde idiot is leaning against the frame, cigarette held in his pursed lips, hands in his pockets.

The last of the kids scurries past Sanji and I watch as he smoothly takes another long drag of the tobacco death stick and stamps it out on the floor before blowing out the smoky toxins in the outside direction. He picks up the crushed bud and flicks it into the bin on the other side of the door. I blink at him as he goes through these motions. I don't want to think that he's here for a bad reason but I do want to know why he's here… Maybe he's just here to see me…? Blushing, I push the girly thought aside and act like his presence hasn't interested me in the slightest; grabbing a towel from the side of the hall to wipe the light sweat off of my crown. After a moment, I realise I haven't heard him enter the hall yet and turn to see him standing awkwardly at the edge of the dojo… well, just outside of it.

He looks unsure and nervous as he fiddles shyly with the hem of his trousers. When he notices that I'm watching him he startles slightly and bites onto his lip.

"Oi, shit cook." I call from across the hall. "You can come in, you know." I tilt my head with a raised eyebrow; not entirely able to understand the reason behind his hesitation. He looks up, relieved to have been invited in (what is he? A fucking vampire), and takes a step into my home. "Shoes off." I indicate for him to place them at the side with all of my shoes and some of Kushiro's. He does so without saying a word and then just stands there for a moment before finally speaking.

"It's nice." He looks around the dojo in curiosity. "Traditional."

"Kushiro and I value tradition… so yeah it is old fashioned." I smirk, jokingly.

"You're a natural teacher." He smiles. Feeling my cheeks turn pink; I snort at the remark.

"Hardly, I just get the brats to work is all." I shrug as if it's nothing.

"Well, that is a teacher's purpose after all." I nod in undeniable agreement; can't argue with that.

I indicate for him to follow me through a door at the back edge of the hall and up a set of stairs. My place isn't as modern as the Baratie's upstairs loggings; this dojo is old and so are the rooms around it. It's also smaller, but Sanji doesn't seem to be bothered about being in a less fantastic environment; he's entranced by every piece of wall art and the various swords mounted against the fading plaster. I turn to him and stare at him as he stops to read a plaque below a picture of a little girl; Kuina.

"Your sister…?" He asks in a low voice.

"_Adoptive_ sister." I correct him.

"If you loved her like a sister then it matters not if you're bound by blood." I blink in awe.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, you idiot." He shakes the subject off and bows his head in respect to the image before catching up to me. I remember that time with Chopper. In a way, he's in a very similar situation to me; no blood relatives to speak of, but loving family none the less. The thought makes me smile…

I begin to become uncomfortable in my sweaty gear. I need a shower but I don't want to send him away just for that…

"Hey, I'm going to have a shower. My rooms through here." I indicate to the door in front of us. "You can wait in there or wander round the house; up to you. Or, of course, you could always join me?" I tease, jumping to the side to avoid a foot to the spine. Laughing, I shrug my shoulders "Have it your way. I won't be long, so don't disappear." I leave him there and make my way to the shower.

I hurry through my shower. Enjoying the refreshing feeling as sweat and dirt is washed from my skin but anxious to return to my visitor.

Have you ever realised that you seem to think clearer in the shower? You tend to contemplate things more than normal. It's the same thing as having all your best thoughts just before you fall asleep in bed and forgetting them the next morning. Well, as I stand here under the running water I wonder why Sanji suddenly decided to visit me. Not that I mind, of course, we have the house to ourselves so there are plenty of things we could do… I'm just curious. Considering his personality, I'd say he has a real reason for coming over. His clearly nervous demeanour earlier proves that he has something on his mind… How should I approach the topic? I'll ask casually 'So what'd you want?' something along those lines, at least.

Finishing my shower, I run a towel over myself before wrapping it around my waist. Momentarily forgetting that the blonde is in my room, I walk in, in my almost naked state, almost too casually. I look at him like I don't know what he's thinking and a sly smile twists the corner of my lips.

"What's the problem?" I raise an eyebrow and smirk. His cheeks and ears are glowing red. He swiftly turns his head to look at something else other than me. No snarky remark or sarcastic comments? I begin to think that he really may have come round for a bad reason. He seems off key and is acting displaced and quiet. That's not like him.

Quickly deciding that I should put some clothes on so that I can ask him what's on his mind without there being any distractions, I close the door behind me and head over to my small dresser. I've the whole conversation I'm about to have mapped out in my head. I know what I'm going to say and how I'm going to respond to the things he's going to say. However, as I stretch out my hand to open one of the drawers a slender hand grabs my wrist mid-air and twists me round to face a blushing face. I only have a moment to blink before he pulls our faces together and consumes my lips with his.

I'm startled but I'm not complaining. I quickly fall into the pace of the kiss, allowing myself to be slightly overwhelmed for a moment before breaking the connection.

"What's come over you so suddenly?" I pant against his lips. He looks at me, startled and embarrassed; like he thinks I'm telling him I don't want this.

"I um… I just…" He begins to move away from me, but I grab his waist and pull him back; pushing our bodies against each other.

"Finish what you started, idiot." He blinks at me for a moment before giving me a cunning smile and returning his mouth to mine. In contrary to the way things have gone before, I'm the one who's pushed against the bed. I grin into his surprisingly assertive behaviour and, as he sits himself on top of me I pull his face closer to mine by gripping the back of his neck and tousling the ends of silky god strands with my fingertips.

As we part, slightly, for air, I brush away that curtain of gold and stare into the bright blue; which is highlighted in contrast to his flushed cheeks. He looks so fucking hot. Panting against my lips, a look of lust and want glinting in his eyes; reflecting the look I know is showing in my eyes. That ugly plaster bandage is still there and it really doesn't suit his perfect skin. I rest out foreheads together so that he can't lunge back in, though I desperately want to.

"You know if we keep going I won't be able to stop myself…" I begin. "Are you sure you want to do this? I won't let you back out halfway." He looks down and his face turns bright red.

"I've wanted this for a while…" He admits.

"What do you mean?" He pauses and considers my question.

"I… remember what you did that night I got drunk." My eyes go wide and I can't help but lean back slightly in shock. I begin to panic and start to babble…

"Oh, shit… I'm sorry. I should have told you, I just…"

"It's fine. In all honesty, I _did_ mean to pull you in for a kiss… but I was drunk so I messed it up. I instigated it. But I'm thankful that you didn't let me coax you into going all the way."

"How much do you remember?" My hands are resting on his hips now and I can't help but let my mind be momentarily distracted by how slender he is…

"Well, I remember wanting to thank you for carrying me in and a kiss apparently seemed the logical answer to my intoxicated mind… then I remember you kissing me and… touching me. Then I remember waking up in your arms but I fell back asleep and assumed it was a dream when I woke up again and you were gone…"

"Is that why you were awkward the morning after?" I ask, in realisation; his behaviour of said morning now making sense. He nods slowly on my lap and laughs slightly.

"I thought I was having pervy dreams about you." I raise an eyebrow.

"You weren't?" He rolls his eyes at me.

"Well… they weren't usually as vivid as that." I sigh, relieved. He remembers and he doesn't think I was taking advantage of him. I mean, he doesn't remember exactly how it went but that's close enough.

"So what's that got to do with us now?" I ask, returning the situation back to its former topic.

"Do I have to spell it out for you, shitty asshole?"

"You could give me a fucking hint. That'd be nice." He scowls at me but admits that he hasn't been that frank with his explanation.

I'll be honest; I'm not exactly good at reading between the lines or understanding the underlying meanings of what people say. It's not like I have a problem with understanding people I just prefer it if they're blunt with me.

"I mean that, even though I was drunk, back then… I wanted you. So, now, of course I want you. That's what I mean." He looks down at me with a grumpy pout, annoyed that he's had to tell me outright what he meant. His cheeks are bright and his eyes are full of want. The sight is driving me insane with desire.

"Well, then I guess you've made your choice." I reach up and tease open his lips with my tongue. To which, he swiftly allows it entry and caresses it's warmth with his own hot and hungry tongue. Though I enjoy the delicious friction and weight from this angle, I need a bit more control…

I grab firmly onto his waist and flip us over so that I'm on top, positioned in between his legs, smiling down on my gorgeous blonde cook. The towel around my hips is becoming loose and almost useless. His fringe is scruffily hanging forlorn over his forehead and, the bandage aside, he's the sexiest sight I've ever witnessed. I want to ravage him and make him feel pleasure like he's never felt before. I want to abuse those soft lips and leave marks on that creamy skin. That's what I want and, now, I can.

"You're not going to change your mind half way into it, are you?" I ask, as I kiss a trail along his neck.

"How could I? Besides, you're already this excited. Aren't you?" He smirks as he pushes a knee up against the towel to press against my 'excitement'. I return his grin and seal his lips with mine again.

This is definitely going to be a night to remember.

TBC

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Yeaaaah~ So, the update for next week will be the um... *coughs* The update next week will be posted as a seperate, rated M, one shot fanfic. So that those of you who don't want to read full on smut, don't have to. Don't worry, you don't miss any of the plot if you don't read it; it's pretty much readable on it's own.

So, yeah~ If you have me on author alerts then you'll know when I upload it. Otherwise, check back next sunday for it.

Chapters resume as normal on the 12th of May.

Thanks for reading~

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

* * *

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	16. Chapter 16

Sorry for missing last week's update! I have an art deadline to meet and so am working 110% to meet it.

Anyway, for those of you who read the smut chapter 'the first night' _and _for those of you who didn't this is the VERY next morning after that happened. Again, you don't _have_ to read that chapter for this to make sense and vise-versa.

So, enjoy~

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Chapter 16 Morning after…

Blinking lazily awake, the first rays of morning hitting my eyes, I can tell almost instantly that it's not my usual time for awakening. It's much earlier, and I wouldn't usually be awoken by just the sun if it weren't for the instant realisation of a missing presence. Sparking into consciousness, I turn onto my side and scan the room for the missing blonde. All of his clothes are gone and there is pretty much nothing to tell me that I didn't just dream up the whole evening we just had together. Just as I begin to believe it really didn't happen, I notice a small folded piece of paper resting on top of my bedside table; with my name on it. Groaning as I drag my way over to it. I don't care for mornings, especially when I had planned on waking up lovingly next to a certain blonde cook and giving him a good morning kiss after the best night of my short life.

Begrudgingly shifting myself into a sitting position to be able to reach the note, I stare at it for a moment. It's his handwriting; fancy, but with a sharp edge. The note reads;

_Marimo,_

_I had to leave early to make sure I'd be able to get ready for school on time. _

_Last night was amaz __ Don't bail on school like yesterday!_

_Remember, we're meeting Nami and Robin later._

_I love you_

That last line (written a lot smaller than the rest of the note) … even though he's said it to me, still makes me smile. After reading, I lay there in my bed thinking of what to do with myself now. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, I frown at my ceiling and mutter a single word to myself.

"Bored." It's too early to be bored; I just woke up for Christ's sake. I'm too awake to go back to sleep and now I'm bored rigid. I usually just sleep when I'm bored but, like I just said, that's not an option. With nothing else to do, I begin to ready myself for school.

Shower… Shave… Brush teeth… Put on shirt… Tie… blazer… trousers, wait… oh, yeah… underwear… _then_, trousers… Put the necessary textbooks into my bag… nah, just kidding… Put wallet, gum and can of fizzy cider into bag and I'm ready for school; my morning routine.

Now ready, and still bored, I decide to head out a bit early. There's no point in sitting around doing nothing so instead I'll just… I smirk to myself as I think of where I've decided to go. 'He won't be expecting it, so I'll be able to get payback.' I think to myself. Locking the dojo, I head off. I still can't believe that last night actually happened… it was incredible! Better than any of my weird fantasies I used to have. Now, if ever I need something to… encourage me; I'll just think of that. I've safely stored the memory into a special file in the storage pit of my mind. There's no way in hell that I'd ever _want_ to forget the way he looked, sounded or felt, so it's safely stored and will always be remembered.

After actually managing to arrive at my decided destination on my first attempt, I check the time on my phone and wait. It only took about a half hour to get here, which killed some time, but now there was a game of waiting to do. Leaning against the brick wall of the giant restaurant with the huge sign spelling 'Baratie', I play a game of Tetris on my phone. It's not particularly a very interesting game but, it passes time and, as I reach level 17 I hear light footsteps slowly approaching. A half-hearted moan of 'Buzz off old geezer I do what I want' followed by the unmistakeable flick of a lighter, which Zoro imagined was just meeting the tip of a death stick, which is then followed by the shocked and blushing face of a sexy blonde chef.

"Hey." I pause my game and place the phone back into my pocket.

"H... hey." Sanji replies, removing the cigarette from his mouth and hanging it in his fingers. "What are you doing here?"

I grin at the question. Moving closer to the blonde I quickly grab him by the waist and pull our faces together to envelop him in a deep kiss.

"I didn't get my morning kiss." I hum happily against his lips. "So this is payback." Closing the gap again, he allows me to continue until I begin to slide my hand around and underneath his shirt.

"Now, this is where I have to draw the line, Zoro." He removes my hand and pushes me away. "Not only are we in public; we've got school, so we've no time for this." I raise an eyebrow.

"So, if we were back in my bedroom and had plenty of time then…" My sentence is cut off as I dodge to avoid a foot to the face.

"You damn perverted marimo!"

"Shitty cook." I go to grab him but he dodges and instead sends a heel aiming for my ribs. Jumping back swiftly, I grab his leg and pin it to my side; consequently using it to pull him in closer to me as I give him a light peck on the lips.

"Good morning…" I whisper with a smile. Pursing his lips in a pout, he rolls his eyes; trying to act like he doesn't care when his bright read cheeks and ears tell me otherwise.

"Good morning." He mumbles back.

Once satisfied with my 'morning kiss' I release him and begin walking in the direction of the school.

"That's the wrong way dumbass!" Sanji yells as he pulls me back by the arm and drags me off in the opposite direction.

"I guess I need you to hold my hand and guide me." I purr into his ear, teasingly. He rolls his eyes.

"I'm not going to hold your hand."

"Tsk… fine." As we walk, I notice a purple bruise just above his collar. One of the hickey's I left last night; his collar, too short to hide the mark (though he clearly tried to cover it up). I lightly poke it with my finger, causing him to bat my hand away and pull his neck back into his collar. "Don't worry." I muse, enjoying this situation way too much. "Nobody will notice it."

"How can they not?! It's a big purple bruise on an obvious fucking place!" He growls at me. I groan, then pull him in by the neck and lightly kiss the bruise.

"Do you really care what others think?" I whisper. He considers the question before resting his head on my shoulder and sighing in defeat.

"No." He answers bluntly.

"Then it's fine." He mutters a quiet 'yeah' before pulling himself away from me and continuing to walk.

It occurs to me that we're avoiding a subject here. Today we'll be meeting this Nami and Robin and possibly joining a secret mafia gang to rival the Yakuza and the Government. Yet ever as we walk, both clearly aware that the other is thinking the same thing, we say nothing. Like we both wish that this could be it; just us, and our friends and our lives; nothing more and nothing less. That is, of course, not an option at this point. We're both too deep into this to just slip it under the carpet and act like nothing happened. Besides, I want total and utter revenge on Mihawk and that means taking down the Yakuza with him. Everything and everyone even remotely linked with him is on my shit list and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure they all pay.

The school hours that follow are, to say the least, awkward. And not only because Ace decided he would spend the whole day picking and teased us both. Starting with, pointing out the hickey on the cook's neck and stating that we 'didn't even try to cover it up. It's like you wanted us to know.' Now, I'm not saying that we were trying to hide it but we definitely weren't trying to flaunt our relationship around.

"Oh, young love! Isn't it beautiful Luffy?" Ace smirks, turning to his brother for him to join in the teasing. Luffy looks up and, through a mouthful of food, grossly mumbles.

"Yosh! Ish ver-cy beushiful! Shishishishi." Sanji glares at him, thumping him hard on the head with the heel of his boot.

"At least swallow before you speak! You're spitting food everywhere!" I smirk at how easily riled he can be. It doesn't take much to start an argument with him and even less to start a fight. However, even though he does do both of these things with the others, he doesn't put quite as much effort into it as he does when it's with me. I like that; it makes me think that maybe, in the same sadistic way that I do, he enjoys our little spats as much as I do.

Anyway, it was mainly awkward because we knew what was coming. All this joking and teasing would have to cease this evening. None of this was a joke and we have to take it seriously or else we could screw things up. Still, what is it with people and avoiding talking about things? It only leaves room for thought and thought causes doubt, which causes distrust, which causes failure. I have no time for faltering or failure.

None of us even mentions tonight's meeting until a naive Usopp walks up to quietly tell us that he got a message from Robin telling us that they'd be at the school around four and that we should wait around with Franky until they arrive. I was almost expecting to have to be blindfolded and lead to a secret location but I guess the school is as good as any other place. If not better because it's so obvious that nobody would even consider it to be a Mafia's meeting place.

"What's this Nami and Robin like?" Sanji asks openly to Ussop, Ace and Luffy. Luffy quickly swallows his mouthful and answers the question before anyone else can.

"Nami's amazing! She knows all about meatball-ology and can predict the weather!"

"You mean meteorology?" Ace laughs as Luffy considers it and then nods.

"She's always right, too! Oh! And she can draw a map of anything! She also likes money and can steal almost anything if she wants!" I raise an eyebrow at that last part.

"Is that really something to compliment her about?" Luffy can make anything sound like a compliment if he wants to; even if it's something considered a criminal act… He looks at me like he doesn't understand what I mean and shrugs off my comment; probably concluding that because he doesn't understand my comment it is of no importance to him.

He goes on to tell us about Robin; a 'mysterious' and 'intelligent' figure who is into archaeology and the true history behind things. Ace then furthered Luffy's vague description with the fact that she had a seemingly 'eerie sense of humour' and a tendency to quickly and mono-dramatically dwell on the most unlikely and devastating turn of events possible.

"She sounds… dark." I almost feel a shiver as I think about how creepy this woman must be. Sanji, in complete contrast, merely tilts his head and babbles pointlessly.

"A woman is allowed to have her secrets and peculiar quirks; it's what makes every woman special in her own way." He swoons over the images he's conjured up in his head of the two women we are to meet later on. Ace snickers to his self and goes to put Sanji in his place.

"Well, I didn't think you would really concern yourself with appreciating women. Considering you don't swing that way. Am I right, Zoro?" He nudges me as I conceal a smirk of my own. To which Sanji glares at us with a look of fire, before looking down and shyly muttering.

"No… I appreciate women, but _Zoro_ is the _only_ guy I appreciate in that way…" He pouts, pissed off at himself for even saying it and I have to stop my heart from exploding out of my chest. Fucking bastard; making me want you like this…

As things suddenly turn slightly awkward, Usopp continues with whatever contraption he was tinkering with (pretending that he heard nothing) and Luffy grinning like an idiot while Ace just smirks to his self and I restrain myself from grabbing the blushing cook before me and violating him in public, the bell rings to save the day. We conclude that we know where to meet and part. Well, Ace, Luffy and Usopp leave as I swiftly pull the cook back by the collar and push him against the back of the tree; pressing my lips against his in a fast and hungry kiss.

"W… what gives?" He gasps desperately, trying half-heartedly to push me off.

"Shitty cook. Saying something like that, in front of them, how can you expect me not to do something like this?" I purr dangerously, sliding my hand around his body and down to the inside of his thigh, so close that I can feel the heat from his-

"Zoro, not now; not here..." He pulls my hand away from his lower regions and instead apologises and kisses me; softer and less desperate than my kiss… "Let's go… we'll be late." He begins walking off before I call to him and ask.

"Oi, cook! Did you mean it?" He stops and turns to me, his face a light blush.

"I did. I'm not… attracted to other guys… Just… you." His head is low, like he's embarrassed, but I find that that confession only confirms my deepest feelings for him; there could never be another, not after him. Not now, not ever. I look at him, standing there; the warm sunlight lighting up the sky behind him; making him look heavenly. Nothing will beat how he looked last night, but I still think he's dead attractive as he is now. He gives me a light smile and turns quickly to walk way. I follow and quicken my pace to walk just slightly behind him.

I stare at the back of his head, then his back and then his butt and somehow I find my eyes drifting over to his hand. I want to hold his hand and walk side by side with him but, he wouldn't want that because he'd be too embarrass- Turning to me he avoids eye contact and lifts his hand slightly, outstretched, asking for me to hold it. I look at him and then look around to see if there's anyone watching; he didn't check.

"I don't care if anyone sees…" He mumbles. I grin at him and take his hand happily, interlocking our fingers together. Leaning over to place a light kiss on his lips; he looks like he's about to protest when I grin wickedly at him and use his own words against him.

"You don't care, right?" He shoves me with a pout and a yell of 'don't twist my words you shitty marimo' before rolling his eyes and continuing to walk, pulling me along by our hands. I laugh to myself; it seems as though I've won this round.

Coincidentally, it seemed as though nobody saw us together as they had all actually returned to class on time. We walked into class separately (him five minutes before me) and acted as though nothing had happened. I don't know about the cook but that form time and whatever lesson it was that we had last seemed to drag on and on. It was as though time slowed down for that entire one hour and twenty five minutes; a second seemed to last a minute, a minute lasted and hour and an hour lasted a lifetime. To top that off, it was so boring! If Sanji sat next to me or was actually in my last class then I would have been okay, I could have annoyed him in various ways throughout the lesson to keep myself entertained, however, since this was not the case, I sat there, leant back on my chair and took a nap. I'd pretty much given up on my exams anyway, there was nothing I wanted to be other than a master swordsman so what was the point in studying history or literature?

Absolutely none.

The final bell rings lurid throughout the school, the familiar scraping of chairs and desks begins as students pack up their belongings and make their way home. There was a bulletin throughout the school today; all after school clubs and lessons are cancelled due to a routine health and safety inspector visiting the school. My, what a coincidence…

I'm the last to arrive at Franky's 'Suuuuper' office; logically I should have been the first, since my class was just around the corner… but I got confused by the long corridors and took a wrong turning. I enter casually; not a stranger to the completely cluttered office of our prestigious perverted headmaster. I say perverted because, other than when he's at school, the man refuses to wear trousers and instead parades around in a pair of speedos. It's a bold look, I'll give him that, and if it's attention he seeks from his wardrobe malfunction, then it's definitely getting him the desired effect. The clutter would be the masses of un-used, un-finished mechanical weapons and junk, scrap metal piled up in every corner and stacked around the edges of the room. His desk isn't even really a desk, it's a work bench. A work bench with a small plaque reading 'Headmaster Franky Super' placed where people can see it.

When I walk in, everyone is already seated. Sanji is chatting politely to two strange women (of whom I assume are Nami and Robin) using that gentleman act I remember from the first few weeks of school; charming and pleasant and complimenting. One of the women is lean with black hair and matching eyes. The other is broad with bright orange hair. I don't know the specifics; I was more interested in my blonde paying far too much attention to these two women. Luffy is buzzing on his chair, eagerly joining in with the conversation as he smiles brightly at the; the extra energy must be coming from his overworking hormones.

I sit myself in the spare seat next to Ace who is, typically, snoring at full volume as Usopp and Frankie tend to some bizarre contraption at the side of the room. As I sit down, all other happenings cease and Frankie places himself in his 'headmaster' seat. The meeting commences...

TBC

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Thank you for sticking with me this far! I know there are so many chapters! XD Updates will be moving to once a fortnight from here on out as I just have so much work to do... Sorry! Bare with me; I have two deadlines and 13 exams... TTMTT

give me stregnth...

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 Just another day at the office…

This odd meeting of bizarrely assorted people begins with the introductions of the two new faces. The eerie and elegantly sinister looking woman stands and places a hand to her chest, bowing ever so slightly.

"I am Nico Robin; it is a pleasure to be here with all of you." This must be the woman brook said Franky is married to. I suppose they decided not to take each other's surnames in case anyone managed to figure out who they were. Glancing at my ero-cook I see him smile brightly at her, that charming smile that he uses on the girls in my class…

Gritting my teeth I choose to let it pass, smirking to myself when I think about how I was the one making him moan in pleasure last night. He was calling my name and nobody else's. Man I wish I'd seen him when he woke up; I bet he looked hot as fuck. He would still have had the afterglow of sex about him and with that messy hair and sticky skin… I think I probably would have taken him again. But that would have probably left him unable to walk… hahaha! Dragging my thoughts back to the meeting… Nico Robin sits back down, as calmly as she stood; and as she does so, the other woman jumps to her feet and glares at me and Sanji with an almost angry pout.

"I'm Nami and I won't be taking any crap from anyone! I don't care if you have a sob story that you think excuses a foul attitude or violent outbursts; cross me and I won't hesitate to hit you!" With that she sits back down, crossing her legs, with a nod; confident she got her point across. My eyebrow twitches as I look at her, I don't think I'm going to like this Nami woman very much. Although, I seem to be the only one who thinks this as Luffy giggles in his seat and Sanji tells her that she's 'so beautiful when she's mad'… Moron.

Luckily, she seems uninterested and instead just looks at Luffy and blushes at his huge childish grin; I suppose this isn't an unrequited love from just Luffy's side then…

The meeting moves on, we receive a brief introduction to their mafia organisation and history. Apparently, Luffy holds one of the highest statuses in the organisation! He's pretty much the 'captain', if you will. Sanji and I stare wide eyed at the bubbly kid sitting cross legged on his chair in disbelief. He grins widely at us in response and laughs. Luffy is the head of a mafia gang! Although this is not known by many as Frankie has to stand in as the principal since Luffy is too young to act as one himself and thus ends up posing as the mafia boss for the same reason. Luffy's still a kid and, although he's loyal, brave and strong; at the end of the day, he's still a kid. He doesn't seem to mind though, since the Mafia itself is called 'the straw hats'; taken from the hat Luffy wears when he's not at school and as long as he is officially the head of the mafia then he doesn't mind not being in control for the most part. I'm still not over it but there's nothing I can say or do to make it any different so I just nod and continue listening, to which Sanji does the same.

I was correct in thinking that the whole school was a giant weapon; Frankie built the school himself and made the entire thing into a weapon superior to anything ever built before. A Suuuuper 'ship' as he called it. That supposedly has fifty odd built in weapons and an emergency final form in case a quick escape is ever needed. He didn't say what it was but it sure does make you wonder…

Following this, Everyone's rolls are quickly and briefly explained to us and when this is done, all eyes fall on me and Sanji.

"The agreement you are about to enter cannot be, under any circumstances, broken in any shape or form. It is a permanent pact that may cost you your life from both the physical fights you will endure and the secrets you will be given access to…" Robin tells us; speaking clearly and monotonously, as if she were reading it from a legitimate contract being formed in court.

"All we expect from you is your loyalty and for you to be willing to give your all; even if there is a risk of death." Nami continues from Robin, her voice sounding a little more understanding and less official. "Once you agree to our terms we will disclose to you our secrets and plans. You can't turn back once you agree; since the information you will receive will be immensely dangerous should it fall into the wrong hands. So… Are you in?"

I look at Sanji and I can see he's having doubts; worried about me, I bet. I catch his eye and stare deep into his eyes, assuring at him that I know what I'm doing and I won't let anything happen to either of us. He understands my stare and nods in response to Nami's question, turning to her and simply stating.

"I'm in." With a nod from Nami, the attention turns to me. I grin and state;

"You got yourself a swordsman." With that the tense atmosphere in the room relaxes and everyone turns to Luffy. Sanji and I share a momentary look of confusion before also looking upon the crazy bundle of energy.

Luffy's smile suddenly drops, turning him completely serious. He looks to each individual person other than me and the cook, receiving a nod from every single one. After which, he nods himself and stands walking up to prop himself happily on Frankie's desk, the man himself not caring one bit, proceeding to cross his arms and close his eyes. He takes a deep breath, pushing out his chest, and holding it there for ten long seconds before yelling loudly;

"WELCOME TO THE CREW! Shishishishishi!"

Everyone in the room laughs but me and the cook. Even Robin pulls out a strange sounding laugh along the lines of 'dereshishishi'. Sanji blinks for a moment before slowly beginning to build up into a chuckle himself. So, it seems as though we've been accepted… And with this, loud and overjoyed cries of welcome follow. For a mafia, they really are a peculiar bunch. Brook, appearing from nowhere, suddenly begins playing loud joyful music. And Luffy, grabbing Sanji by the neck, begins dancing and singing boisterously on Franky's 'desk'. And the crazy idiot actually starts dancing with him. I, choose to sit and smirk to myself in disbelief. Seeing this now, nobody would believe that we just joined a mafia gang. I mean honestly! You wouldn't believe that these guys are one of the top opposing gangs against the Yakuza.

As the party and dancing continues, every second more overflowing with rejoice than the next, a small and nervous knock comes from the other side of the door. As everyone stops and turns in curiosity, the door creaks open and a small, familiar head pops its way around the door frame speaking meekly; with his fluffy brown hair and shining brown eyes…

"D… did they agree?" He asks apprehensively. My eyes going wide from disbelief - seem to be doing that a lot recently… - I blink at the small doctor who saved my life. Jumping off the table, almost pulling Sanji and Ussop down with him, Luffy runs over and flings the door fully open; grabbing the youngster and squeezing him with a little too much affection.

"Yeaaaaaaah! Now we have two new nakama! Come celebrate with us, Chopper!" I swallow and look over at the cook; whose eyes show utter horror and shock. He's gone as pale as anything and looks like he can barely keep himself from tumbling to the floor. Stepping carefully down from the desk he stutters;

"C- Chopper…?" His voice clearly showing that the answer is a negative one. The teenager looks up at him with apologetic eyes.

"Hello Sanji…" He mumbles. Placing Chopper down, suddenly interested in this turn of events, Luffy claps his hands favourably.

"You guys know each other?!" He cries with awe. Sanji swallows, his hands clenching into tight balls.

"H- he's my cousin." Sanji stumbles, the hurt and betrayal he feels ringing clear in every syllable. Chopper begins walking up to him, concerned.

"Sanji… you don't look so good! Have you been resting like I told you?"

"You were a part of this the whole time and you kept it from me? I thought we were closer than that!" Sanji spits maliciously at him. "I tell you everything! Yet, you keep something like this from me?!" Chopper stops in his tracks, looking slightly hurt; he begins apologising feebly.

"I'm sorry, Sanji. Just like you now are, I was sworn to an oath of secrecy. I wanted to tell you, I really did! You don't look well; is your head okay?" He steps slowly forward, cautiously reaching out a hand to him. Sanji blinks at him like he's motioning towards him with a needle and syringe filled with cyanide, taking a step back; saddening the little doctor further. "Sanji, please understand! I never meant to deceive you!"

The small doctor looks close to tears and as the cook looks at him coldly I can tell that it's killing him to see how much he's hurting him; but he's been hurt himself. Chopper is the only person who ever knew that Sanji was going head on against Mihawk on a regular basis and he trusted him, literally, with his life. Only to now learn that he himself was a part of this underground world himself. If I were him, I'd be feeling exactly the same; betrayed, hurt and angry. I feel sorry for Chopper, as I understand he had an oath to follow as the cook and I now also have, but he was the very one telling Sanji to keep away from all of this. He lied to him.

As Sanji looks upon the pink faced teen, his expression softens. Those big brown, watery eyes sucking the anger right from his heart like a sponge to water. With an exasperated sigh he walks slowly up to the trembling doctor and wraps an arm around him, pulling him close.

"We're family, remember that." Sanji mumbles quietly to Chopper, to which he lifts his arms and wraps them tightly around the cook babbling sorrowfully;

"I'm sorry…"

"Hey now, it's done; in the past. No more secrets." Nodding, Chopper's tears dry up almost instantly as he grins widely at the cook and squeaks happily.

"I promise!"

As Sanji steps back, releasing the small doctor and ruffling his hair, for the second time today, the tremendously tense atmosphere is broken with the sound of laughter. Franky jumps up from his seat; grabbing the cook and the doctor by the necks and pulling them in for a muscular hug; eventually managing to persuade both of them to fall into his signature 'suuuuuuuuper' pose with him. This is, without a doubt, one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen in my life and all I can do is laugh as I see the cook tilt his body and swing his arms up above his head with a ridiculous grin plastered across his mug. Idiot…

With a laugh and a cheer from our new 'captain' the music restarts and the celebration party continues; louder and more boisterous than last time. Alcohol and food suddenly appearing from nowhere; Ace quickly shoves a glass into my hand and encourages me to down it in an instant. Which I do so, happily. And so, the party swings into first gear; soon becoming an all-out carnival. Sanji even somehow manages to convince me to dance with him at one point, to my embarrassment and yet utter delight to the rest of the crew.

In the end we never actually get around to discussing the future course of action; this being the plan on taking down the Yakuza. There was dancing, eating, drinking and even some talking but none of it linking in any way shape or form to anything even remotely mafia-related. Even I forgot to mention it until the party was over and people were saying their goodbyes. However, as soon as we did remember another meeting was arranged three days from now. At which we would have the whole plan, in its entirety, disclosed to us and assigned our own roles amongst this merry group of underground mafia. Chopper checked Sanji over before leaving, still concerned after earlier and ten left telling us to take it easy and stay healthy.

Sanji and I leave together; it seemed that everyone already knew our reasons for wanting to be a part of this group as we didn't have to explain ourselves and from the very beginning it felt as though we had already been accepted (well at least that saves us the trouble of explaining our relationship together). It was a fun party and all, I just hope that their fighting skills are as good as Luffy's eating skills, Brook's musical skills and Sanji's dancing… Man, if I've learnt anything useful from this evening's event, it's that the cook is a damned good dancer. I suppose that I should really have been able to guess that without seeing it since I already know first-hand just how slender and flexible he is… As we near the school's gates I put my arm over his shoulder and kiss his jaw.

"What, you want attention, shitty marimo?"

With a smirk, I remove my arm and instead grab his hand; intertwining our fingers. A thought occurs to me and I instantly perceive it to be a good idea and voice it.

"Hey, shit cook. We should go on a date." He blinks at me; startled from my sudden proposal.

"W… Why, so suddenly?" He stutters. I shut my eyes and shrug.

"We're going out and yet we've never been on a date. Just thought you might like to but I'm happy with it if you don't want to." I peak at him with one eye, I can see him beginning to blush; trying to force a smile to stay off his face, apparently not wanting to let me see how excited he is about the idea of going on a date.  
"A date would be okay. I mean, if you wanted to then I'd be up for it." I smirk, his annoying habit of trying to cover up how he feels actually making him seem rather adorable at this moment. Leaning over to him, I grab his tie and pull him in for a kiss.

"If it would make you happy…" I purr, causing him to stare at me; his face slowly reddening.

"When?" He asks quietly.

"Now, or more appropriately, this evening; if you would like?" He looks at me in thought and then nods. "Where would you like to go?" I ask, whispering against his parted lips. He grins at me.

"Surprise me." I grin back at him.

"I'll do my best."

TBC

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Awwww~ poor little chopper XI this was a hard chapter to write, i'll be honnest. I just wanted to make it clear how close the bond between family is in this fanfic. Since the main theme is all kinds of relationships between all kinds of people. Anyway, thanks for reading; I love you guys so much, I swear. Next update in a fortnight. When my exams finish the updates will go back to once a week... maybe XD.

We shall see.

I wonder where Zoro and Sanji's date will take them~? I'd love to hear where you think they should go~

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


	18. Chapter 18

Urgh... I'm sorry this took so long. I finished my exams but now I have summer projects (*TTmTT) and I've been unwell so not been able to think straight enough to write this chapter but, hey~! I got it finished in time for _A_ Sunday so all is well~ Hope it's worth the wait~ Thank you for reading~

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Chapter 18 Reflections

I don't know what the fuck I was even thinking when I asked the shitty curly brow out on a date. I mean, we're already together so it's not like I'm doing this to try and woo him… although, I wouldn't complain if it helped me get him into bed again... I digress. What I mean is that it was spontaneous and I don't know what made me say it. I suppose I can see him as the type of guy who would enjoy an actual date every now and then so, hell, why not. It's not really my thing but, for him, I guess I'm willing to give it a try. He looked so genuinely happy when I asked him, like he was shocked. I wonder if he can also tell that I'm not one for going on dates or being impulsively romantic… And then when he told me to 'surprise him' I somehow gained a bit of confidence from having control of the evening and replied automatically. But then I got home and realised I don't even know where people go on dates.

So, although I'm embarrassed to say it; I had to go online and look it up. What the hell was I supposed to do? I don't know the first thing about dates. I've only ever been on one date; when I was 13, a strange girl named Perona somehow managed to trick me into going on a date with her to the cinema. Well, by then I knew I was gay anyway, but I guess I figured that it'd be like a final test; just to check that I wasn't just bisexual. And well, if there was a chance for me and girls then Perona made sure to put me off the female species for good. She was creepy as fuck and kept calling me cute; saying things like she wanted to dress me up in various costumes. She had some majorly fucked up fetishes. I swear to god she the whole time I spent with her was eerie as hell; I had this sick feeling like she was the stalker type who was going to follow me home afterwards.

So, anyway; I looked over some chat rooms and Q 'n' A websites where people asked pretty much the same thing I was looking for and I got a few ideas. I have something planned out but I don't know if he'll enjoy it or not. But whatever, on such short notice it's all I can come up with. I called him up and told him to dress comfy casual for our date this evening. As I get myself ready, putting on my comfy jeans and favourite white shirt and black hoodie, I begin to wonder what he will wear…

I can say many negative things about Sanji. For starters, I hate that sudden switch to 'gentlemen' he does whenever he sees a woman; It's such a fake act and it irritates me that he's only that pleasant and appealing to women. Secondly, I also hate his lack of self-concern; he cares far too much for others and not enough for himself. I hate the annoying nicknames he's created for me when saying my name would actually be easier to say; it has less sylla-thingies [1]. I hate how he covers half his face, even though his eyes are fucking stunning. I hate how he jumps into fights to protect his ego. I hate how he'll do absolutely anything for anyone else but refuse to accept help for himself… There are a few other things of course, and there are many things I love about him too… However, one thing I absolutely cannot fault him on is how gorgeous of a man he is. So far, I've seen him in a casual suit, our school uniform, a tracksuit and butt naked; and every single time, he's looked hot as hell. It really doesn't matter what he's wearing or what he's not wearing because he has a fantastic body and a model face. I know I've said it before but he really is just fucking good-looking.

Thinking about this reminds me of the first time I saw him; standing in the doorway of the dojo looking mysterious, alluring and exciting in that sexily slimming suit of his. It complimented is lean figure so well. And then there was our fight… it was like we were both suddenly overcome with passion. Thinking back, it was a bit rash of us but I suppose now that I know that he was doing it to check my health… which explains his reaction to my scar. It didn't make sense back then but, that look of hurt in his eye when he looked along the line of jagged flesh along my chest… it was guilt. I only wish that back then I knew why; so I could tell him it wasn't his fault and remove that painful expression from his face…

Quickly checking my phone for the time I do up my hoodie and grab my keys from my bedside table. Looking down I see my screwed up uniform half under my bed and smile when I think of school. Before I saw a blond headed cook walk through those doors I never thought for a moment that the arrival of a new student would have such a huge impact on my life. It seemed as though we were headed towards such a bitter relationship. Hell, I didn't think we would have any kind of relationship to begin with. He seemed to hate me from the very beginning. Although, thinking about it… no, he didn't. He was cold to me… but he never really did anything to give me the impression that he hated me. When I went to the cooking club that first time and he just came over on his own accord and gave me something to eat because Luffy had told him I didn't usually eat lunch… that was all him; he didn't have to and it's not like I asked him. 'Well, if you just forget then I'll make lunch for you and give it to you every day to make sure you eat it so that you can't forget.' I couldn't tell back then but he really was concerned for me…

Turning the key in the lock and giving the door a quick push to make sure it's locked, tugging at the strap of my backpack (which is pretty heavy due to its contents…); I think about my destination, mapping out the directions in my head; The Baratie; Sanji's home. I remember expecting him to live in a much more luxurious home and I definitely didn't expect the cook to live above the restaurant. Come to think of it… that's where all this craziness began; I think, when I was out late that night (the night I first confronted Mihawk and met the cook), I passed the Baratie and then shortly after I ran into the blond while was he was out on one of his –as I would later learn- regular confrontations with Mihawk and his men. Man, I still won't accept choppers diagnosis; that I wanted to forget that night and then I did… I mean, sure, he said some scientific gibberish which does make it believable but considering how desperate I was at learning his name before I passed out… I wanted to be able to remember. I know I did. No way is my pride bigger than my attraction for the blond… or is it? Shit, now I'm questioning myself.

Shaking the unpleasant thoughts out of my mind, I begin walking in the direction of my cook. My cook… My Sanji. That first time we kissed and we both knew how the other felt... Damn, I've fallen for him hard. I'm doing shit I never even dreamed I would ever do. For starters, I'm joining a damn mafia group but even that's not as shocking as me going out on a date; out of choice. Though, I'm pretty confident in my plan. If he doesn't enjoy it or is a bitch about it then that's just his loss. I'm not aiming to impress him.

Getting closer to the Baratie I see the blond idiot leaning against the side of the restaurant, smoking as he extends his neck and blows out a long stream of smoke. I don't condone smoking and I think it's a fucking unhealthy habit but… I'd be lying if I said that he didn't look fucking sexy as he held the stick of tobacco between his thin fingers and raised his hand up to his face to place the cigarette between his lips. The swift motion looking almost like he was putting on a tantalizing performance just for me… It makes me want to grab him by the neck and replace his cigarette with my lips; which, if you ask me, is a much better (and healthier) use of his lips.

As I approach the cook I can see that he's wearing a light blue shirt with a wide collar and a black jacket. His jeans are also black and compliment his long slender legs and fine ass perfectly. I have to remind myself not to stare at his rear too much but promise the pervy side of my brain that that ass belongs to me now and I'll be seeing a lot more of it soon…

"Oi, I'm looking for a sexy idiot shit cook. Have you seen one?" I ask with a smirk. He looks at me and takes a final drag of his cigarette before dropping it on the floor by his feet and stamping it out.

"Shitty marimo; always so vulgar…" Turning fully towards me, I look him up and down and smirk as I begin having even more perverted thoughts about him. He seems to see my visual caressing and blushes with a frown. "Oi, are we going somewhere or what?" I look up from his legs and raise an eyebrow at him.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, right." I hold out my hand to the idiot, offering it to him. He hesitates but eventually takes it and allows me to lead him in the direction of my surprise date.

"Shouldn't you tell me where we're going so that I can make sure you're not going to get us lost?"

"Tch. Shut up. I know the way. Besides, it's a 'surprise'. Or don't you understand the word?"

"Fuck you! I know what it means! I'm not an idiot! Fine, I trust you not to get lost then." I snicker at the word 'idiot' and receive a shove from _said_ idiot in consequence. "What's in your bag? It's making a clinking sound… is it glass?" I don't answer. He seems to register that whatever it is, it is part of my surprise and doesn't press me with any further questions.

We walk in silence for the rest of the trip. We have to stop twice so that I could remember which road to go down, which the cook found hilarious calling me a 'lost child'; he seems to always find enjoyment on teasing me about that. I suppose, although it's something I find irritating about myself (since it would be a lot more convenient if I were able to easily find my way without trouble like most other people) I have to be kind of thankful that I have this trait. Since, if I didn't I wouldn't even be here; holding the slender hand of a man I've fallen hopelessly (and annoyingly) in love with. Anyway, I remembered shortly after and soon we are on the outskirts of town and walking steadily up a hill. Well, I'm walking steadily and almost dragging the blond idiot behind me as he looks around and begins to question our whereabouts and what our business is at the top of the hill. I ignore him the whole time, answering none of his questions as I know full well that everything will become clear once we reach the highest point of this mount of earth...

I reach the top of the hill, nodding with approval at the view from this point, and practically pull Sanji up beside me; tugging him to my side so that he doesn't trip and fall back down. He stumbles in my hold and looks up at me with a low grumble before looking out in front of him and silently gasping. His eyes soften almost instantly as the orange glow of sunset lights up his features, giving him a look of golden radiance as the rays caress his skin and clothes alike. He looks stunning against the light of the diminishing day and I feel like I'm looking at all his essence of beauty in one frame of a moment.

This is the most 'country' like part of town which leads to the next town past here. This sunset looks over clear fields and a horizon of forest. Out here it's quite, calm and natural. Looking up to me with wide eyes he exclaims in almost a whisper;

"Zoro you…" I claim his open mouth and silence his words. I can't help but smile slightly as I do my own caressing of the cook; allowing my hands to gently cup his cheek and pull him closer by the neck. Pulling away slightly with a smirk that I know I deserve.

"Now you can't say I'm not romantic." He blinks at me before smiling and chuckling, placing a light kiss on my lips.

"No, I suppose I can't. I'll be honest; I'm really taken back by this… it's…" He turns to face the sunset again; looking across the skyline in awe…

Unable to complete his sentence as he gets lost in the beauty of days end, I chuckle to myself and pull my bag off my back. Taking out a blanket I brought for us to sit on and placing it on the flattest part of the hill, I think I saw something like this in a movie once… or something similar… I don't remember, I'm not interested in shitty chick flicks. Placing my bag down I take the cooks hand, breaking his trance and coax him into sitting with me. I pull out a bottle of sake and a glass from my bag and fill the glass, handing it to him.

"It's not top quality or any shit like that but it is good." Putting that bottle down I pull out another bottle of the same sake and open it, I take a swig from the bottle and look over to the blond to see the results of my 'surprise date'. He grins at me, and takes a sip of the sake. Nodding with approval he smiles over at me.

"Not bad; for a marimo choice." I know that's his way of complimenting me and smirk at him, looking over at the setting sun.

"So how'd I do? I've never done this shit before so I don't care if it's not good enough for your royal ass…" He rolls his eyes at me and looks out across the sky again.

"It's perfect. It's not what I expected from you but somehow it just feels like it could have been nothing else other than this."

I bore of the sun and the silhouette of trees and instead look over to my beautiful cook. I look down to his hand which is placed by his side on the blanket and place my hand over his, drawing his attention from the sights for a second before he smiles and looks back. Nope. That's not enough; I want his full attention. Placing the bottle of sake to the side, I lean over to him and place a kiss on his neck. He tilts his head and looks over at me from the corner of his eye, questioningly. I kiss his neck again, but further up, before reaching up and kissing his jaw. He turns his face towards me slightly and hums at me curiously. I want him facing me. I reach up with my other hand and use it to tilt his face towards mine so that I can claim his lips once more. I bite down on his lower lip before licking his upper lip in a quest for entry. He raises an eyebrow at me and asks, without raising his voice.

"You came here just to make out?"

"Hey, it's my date. I planned and brought you here; this is my reward." I grumble in a low voice, annoyed at the fact that our lips aren't connected at this moment. He scoffs lightly with a smirk.

"Don't objectify me." I look up and use my palm to brush away his mop of a fringe so that I can stare into both his eyes.

"Then stop being so damn sexy…" His wide eyes, red cheeks and slightly parted lips are telling me that that has caught him off guard and surprised him enough to give me the opportunity to lean forward and seal his lips.

Taking the glass from his hand I place it far enough away so that, as I release the cooks hand from under mine and instead place it on his waist as I kneel up and push down on him compelling him to lean back and eventually end up lying on the ground, it won't get knocked over. I have a hand underneath his head, entwining my fingers in his silky golden locks. Of which, he probably washes every day… He doesn't seem to be complaining anymore, it's more the opposite actually. He's kissing me back with an equal passion that I've met on many levels, showing me that fiery side of him that I love oh so much. He even allows my hands to travel up as far as his pecks before he pulls away slightly to guide my hand away from his nipple.

"Oi… don't do _that._ We're not doing it out here." I give a groan of frustration before complying and leaning back in to continue the kiss, begrudgingly moving my hand back down but continuing to stroke the soft and toned skin of his abdomen. We have to repeat this 'telling off' when my hand then travels too low and eventually Sanji forces me off him so that we can actually make something of this 'date'.

Before we sit up, I lean up and take a moment to just take in the cook's image at this moment. I like doing this… Just looking, and taking mental photographs of him… His hair is messy and sprawled across the grass, the gold creating a perfect contrast against the green of the grass. His open-collar blue shirt and jacket loose against his perfect and pale skin which, I know it's cliché but like I fucking give a damn, seems to glow with the light of the ever diminishing sun. I see the bandage which still remains on his forehead and remember that horrific sound as metal met skull… I never say this but, thank god it was nothing more serious than what it was. That was before I had even confessed and thinking about how lucky I am now, I can't even imagine what it would be like at this point if things had been different. I lean down and place a kiss on his forehead, before helping him sit back upright and taking another mouthful of sake to erase the horrid thoughts from my mind. God, I'm being so morbid today.

I'm not happy with it but as soon as he starts calling my objections 'childish' I become determined to prove to him that I can, as he puts it, 'enjoy a romantic moment'. The sun is almost all behind the trees and, very soon, it will be very dark. The cook seems to enjoy sitting in silence staring at the sky, I make a note of it but I don't think it's something that I'd want to do too often. I prefer more… hands on times. Literally. As we gaze and watch the sun slowly disappear, he leans towards me and rests his head on my shoulder. And, after another swig of sake, I tilt my head and rest it on top of his. Man his hair is soft… In the silence and warm light I can't help thinking that it's nice… I suppose, moments like this are okay. We're just sitting here, appreciating the natural beauty of the world and enjoying each other's company. Yeah, okay… I can admit; I like it.

We don't talk about anything because we can both recognise that there's no reason to break the calm and pleasant atmosphere. It isn't until the sun is finally behind the trees and it begins get chilly that the thought of leaving crosses my mind. I check the time on my phone, it's almost 10. I don't want to move from this position but we should go before it gets too cold. I look down at the cook and notice that he's drifted off. Smiling softly, I turn my head and kiss his hair, whispering kindly.

"Hey, Sanji, we should make a move before it gets too late." He smiles at my words and turns his face to rest his chin on my shoulder so that he's looking up at me.

"I like when you say my name." I blink at him and blush as I realise that I did just use his name casually without thinking. I don't usually use it because… well… I suppose at first I just wanted to annoy him but now, it would feel weird if I began using his name more often.

"Heh, shit cook…" I grin at him.

"Don't ruin the moment…"

He sighs with a pout before straightening himself and standing; placing his hands on his lower back and leaning backwards in a stretch. I pack the bottles back into my bag after a final drink of my bottle. As I stand also and swing my bag over my shoulder, I'm taken aback by a surprise attack from the blond who grabs my neck and pulls me forward into a light kiss. Leaning back, he smiles at me and says in a genuine tone;

"Thank you for today, Zoro. I get that you're not one for dates but this was really wonderful." It's dark but the streetlights behind me are allowing me enough light to see the bliss clear imprinted on his face; His cheeks are lightly flushed and pulled upwards in a huge, toothy grin. His idiotic face is enough to cause my stomach to turn and I feel kind of… light and good. I can feel my face getting hotter but hope that the lack of light will hide it.

Reaching forward, I grab the beaming man's slim waist and pull him against me.

"It doesn't have to end this. You could come over; my place is still empty…" I go to kiss him again but miss when he turns his head from me, evading my embrace.

"It's been a long day… I just to get back and sleep on everything that's happened..." I roll my eyes with an upset and annoyed groan, keeping my hands on his waist. I slump my head on his shoulder and kiss at his neck. "We joined a mafia gang today… I don't think I'd ever even considered I would ever do something like that in a million years but… I want to protect the Baratie and all of the people I care for."

"I know… and you're not doing it alone anymore."

I slide my hands round him and hold him close. I'm not thinking perverted or anything anymore; I mean this more than anything and I want him to know it. No matter what happens I _will _be here for him. I'm the one who forced him out of his shell, his comfort zone, and told him to trust more; that working with and accepting help from others is not a corrupt and unfair thing to do. I can't break that newly built trust and I don't plan on doing so.

"Zoro…" I feel the blond go almost limp in my hold as he lets those words sink in again. I've said something similar before and it seems that every time he has to force himself to believe that those words are real.

In reply to my hold, he raises his arms and wraps them around me, clasping me firmly. My hold on him will remain secure and I'll only ever let go when I _know_ that it's the right thing to do.

"Hey… we really should start heading back." He mumbles half-heartedly to me; his grip around me not breaking in the slightest.

"Yeah…"

"We have school tomorrow…"

"Tch… what is school to us? We're mafia, now." I spit in an attempt to lighten the mood, to which he chuckles and reluctantly releases me to step away and take my hand; interlocking our fingers and gripping it tightly.

"Idiot…"

TBC

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[1] Zoro means syllables XD

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Please leave feedback and reviews! Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer all. However, I won't be releasing any spoilers (=^‥^=).

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Eiichiro oda; the creator of One piece.


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